(7t
THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY
FOUNDEU BY JAMES LOEB, LL.D.
EDITED BY
E. H. WARMINGTON, m.a., f.r.hist.soc.
PREVIOUS EDITORS
rT. E. PaJE, C.H., LITT.D. jE. CAPPS, ph.d., ll.d.
rW. H. D. ROUSE, Lirr.D. L. A. POST, l.h.d.
CICERO
XIX
DE NATURA DEORUM
ACADExMICA
268
CICERO
IN TWENTY-EIGHT VOLUMES
XIX
DE NATURA DEORUM
ACADEMICA
WITH AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY
H. RACKHAM, M.A.
UNIYERSITY LECTURER, AND FELLOW AND LECTURER OF
CHRIST'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS
LONDON
WILLIAM HEINEMANN LTD
ilCMLXVII
Firstprinled 1933
Repnnted 1951, 1956, 1961.
1967
Fp
Qf^
Du
Printed in Great Brilain
COxXTENTS
DE NATURA DEORUM :
IXTRODUCTIOX
PAnK
Subject of De Nahira Deorum .
. vii
Post-Aristotelian philosophy .
. vii
Epicurean theology . , . . .
viii
Stoic theology ......
viii
Academic scepticisni . . . .
ix
Cicero's work in philosophy
X
Date of composition of De Naiura Deorun
xii
De Natura Deorum unfinished .
xiii
Summary of De Natura Deorum . «
xiii
Dramaiis personae . . . . .
xiv
Supposed date of the dialogue
XV
Sources of De Natura Deorum .
XV
MSS. of De Natura Deorum
xviii
Editions
. xviii
LlST OF ClCERO'3 WoHKS
. xxi
BOOK I
2
BOOK II
. 122
BOOK III
. 286
Fraqments
. 384
Index
388
CONTENTS
ACADEMICA :
Introductiox —
PAOE
Dates of composition and revision ,
. 399
Suh] ect of Acadeynica
. 400
Dramatis personae
. 402
Imaginary date of the dialoguc
. 403
Sources of Academica
. 404
MSS. of Academica
. 405
Editions
. 405
Dedicatory Letter .
. 406
BooK I
. 410
BOOK II
. 464
Index , . c . . .
. 660
DE NATURA DEORUM
INTRODUCTION
SuBJECT. — In De Natura Deorum Cicero put before
Roman readers the theological views of the three
schools of philosophy that were of chief importance
in his day and in the two preceding centuries, the
Epicurean, the Stoic, and the Academic.
Post-Aristotelian Philosophy. — In spite of the
strong antagonism between the Epicureans and the
Stoics, their doctrines had features in common which
indeed characterized all the thought of the period.
From Aristotle onward Greek philosophy became
systematic ; it fell into three recognized departments,
Logic, Physics.and Ethics,answering the three funda-
mental questions of the human mind : (1) How do I
know the world ? (2) What is the nature of the world ?
(3) The world being what it is, how am I to live in it
so as to secure happiness ? And in answer to these
questions the Stoics and the Epicureans were agreed
(1) that the senses are the sole source of knowledge,
(2) that matter is the sole reahty, and (3) that happi-
ness depends on peace of mind, undisturbed by pas-
sions, fears,and desires. But the ethical systems that
they based on these first principles were fundamen-
vii.
INTRODTJCTION TO DE NATURA DEORUM
tally opposed ; for Epiciirus taught that peace of mind
is won by Uberating the will from nature's law, the
Stoics that it comes by submitting to it. Moreover,
though both were materiahstic, in their detailed
systems of nature they differed ^videly.
Epicurean Theology. — With both schools aUke,
Theology fell under the second department of philo-
sophy, Physics. But wlth Epicurus it was only an
appendix to his main theory of nature. This he based
upon the atomism of Democritus, holding that the
real universe consists in innumerable atoms of matter
moving by the force of gravity through an infinity of
empty space. Our world and all its contents, and
also innumerable other worlds, are temporary clusters
of atoms fortuitously collected together in the void ;
they are constantly forming and constantly dissolving,
vvithout plan or purpose. There are gods, because
all men believe in them and some men have seen them,
and all sensations are true, and so are all beliefs if
uncontradicted by sensations. The gods (like every-
thing else) consist of fortuitous clusters of atoms, and
our perceptions of them (as of everything else) are
caused by atomic films floating off from the surface of
their forms and impinging on the atoms of our minds.
But it is impious to fancy that the gods are burdened
with the labour of upholding or guiding the universe ;
the worlds go on of themselves, by purely mechanical
causation ; the gods hve a Hfe of undisturbed bhss in
the intermundia, the empty regions of space between
the worlds.
Stoic Theology. — The Stoics, on the contrary, held
that the universe is controlled by God, and in the last
resort is God. The sole ultimate reahty is the divine
Mind, which expresses itself in the world-process.
INTRODUCTION TO DE NATURA DEORUM
But only matter exists, for only matter can act and
be acted upon ; mind therefore is matter in its
subtlest form, Fire or Breath or Aether. The primal
fiery Spirit creates out of itself the world that we
know, persists in it as its hcat or soul or ' tension,' is
the cause of all movement and all hfe, and ultimately
by a universal conflagration will reabsorb the world
into itself. But there will be no pause : at once the
process ^vill begin again, unity will again plurahze
itself, and all will repeat thc same course as before.
Existence goes on for ever in endlessly recurring
cycles, following a fixed law or formula (Aoyos) ; this
law is Fate or Providence, ordained by God : the
Stoics even said that the ' Logos ' is God. And the
universe is perfectly good : badness is only apparent,
evil only means the necessary imperfection of the
parts viewed separately from the whole.
The Stoic system then was determinist : but in it
nevertheless they found room for freedom of the will.
Man's acts hke all other occurrences are the necessary
effects of causes ; yet man's ^^ill is free, for it rests
with him either willingly to obey necessity, the divine
ordinance, or to submit to it with reluctance. His
happiness hes in using his divine intellect to under-
stand the laws of the world, and in submitting his
will thereto.
ACADEMIC SCEPTICISM AND THE LaTER ReACTION.
The Academic position in Theology was not dogmatic
at all, but purely critical. Within a century of Plato's
death his school had been completely transformed
by Arcesilas, its head in the middle of the third
century b.c. ; he imported into it the denial of the
possibility of knowledge that had been set up as
a philosophical system by the Sceptic Pyrrho two
ix
INTRODUCTION TO DE NATURA DEORUM
generations before. Arcesilas was regarded as hav-
ing refounded the school, which was now called
the Second or New Academy. Arcesilas's work was
carried further a century later by Carneades, who
employed his acute logic in demoUshing the natural
theology of the Stoics. The next head but one, Philo,
Cicero's first Academic master, set on foot a reaction
to a more dogmatic position ; he asserted that the
Academy had not really changed its principles since
Plato, and that his predecessors,though attacking the
* criterion ' of the Stoics, had not meant to deny all
possibihty of knowledge : there was a * clearness '
about some sense-impressions that carried conviction
of their truth. Philo's successor Antiochus went
further and abandoned scepticism altogether ; he
maintained that the Academy had lost the true doctrine
of Plato, and he professed to recover it, calhng his
school the ' Old Academy.'
CicERo's WoRK IN Philosophy. — Ciccro studied
philosophy in his youth under the heads of all the
three leading schools, for Philo of the Academy,
Diodotus the Stoic, and Phaedrus the Epicurean all
came to Rome to escape the disturbances of the Mith-
ridatic War. He gave two more years to study in
his maturity ; for at the age of twenty-seven he with-
drew for a time from public life, spent six months at
Athens studying philosophy under the Epicureans
Phaedrus and Zeno, and the Academic Antiochus, and
then passed on to Rhodes for rhetoric. There he
met Posidonius, who was now the leading Stoic, as
Diodotus had stayed in Rome as a guest at Cicero's
house and resided there till his death. When Cicerc
went home and resumed his public career, he still con-
tinued his studies in his intervals of leisure, as appears
INTRODUCTION TO DE NATURA DEORUM
from many passages in his Letters. And when under
the Triumvirate hiscareerflagged,he turnedmoreand
more to letters. After his return from exile in 57 b.c.
he WTote De Oratore, De Republica, and De Legibus (his
earhest essay in rhetoric, De Inventione, had been
written before he was twenty-five). Ilhetoric and
poHtical science again engaged him on his return to
Rome after reconciliation with Caesar in 46 b.c. ; and
early in 45, after the death of his daughter and the
final do^\Tifall of Pompey's party at Pharsalus, he
retired to a country-house and gave himself entirely
to study and to wTiting. He seems to have conceived
the idea of doing a last service to his country by
making the treasures of Greek thought accessible to
Roman readers. His intention is described in the
preface to De Finibus (i. 1-13), in which he commends
the book to his friend Brutus ; no doubt it was pre-
sented to Brutus when he visited Cicero in August
{Ad Att. xiii. 44). Cicero went on ^vith his work
through the following year, after the assassination of
Caesar in March, till in the autumn he flung himself
again into the arena by attacking Antony with the
Philippics ; and this led on to his proscription and his
death in December 43.
Thus, excepting the treatises named above, the
whole of Cicero's important work in the region of
thought was accomplished in 46-44 b.c, within the
space of two years.
Cicero's service to philosophy must not be under-
rated. In wTiting to Atticus (xii. 52) he himself took
a modest view : ' You will say " What is your method
in compositions of this kind ? " They are mere tran-
scripts, and cost comparatively little labour ; I supply
only the words, of which I have a copious flow.' But
xi
INTRODUCTION TO DE NATURA DEORUM
elsewhere he rates his work rather higher : ' As my
habit is, I shall draw from the fountains of the Greeks
at my own judgement and discretion ' {Off. i. 6), and
* I do not merely perform the office of a translator.
but apply my own judgement and my o^vti arrange-
ment ' {Fin. i. 6). His method was unambitious : he
took some recent handbook of one or other of the
leading schools of philosophy and reproduced it in
Latin ; but he set passages of continuous exposition
in a frame of dialogue, and he added illustrations from
Roman histor}^ and poetry. His object was to popu-
larize among his fellow-countrymen the work of the
great masters of thought ; and he had made the
masters' thought his omti, having read widely and
ha^ing heard the chief teachers of the day. But to
learning and enthusiasm he did not add depth of
insight or scientific precision. Nevertheless he per-
formed a notable service to philosophy. With the
Greek schools it had now fallen into crabbed techni-
cahty : Cicero raised it again to hterature, so com-
mending it to all men of culture ; and he created a
Latin philosophic terminology which has passed into
the languages of modern Europe.
N.D. : Date of Composition. — In the preface to
De Divinatione, book ii., Cicero gives an account of his
philosophical authorship. We read there (§ 3) that
he finished his three books De Natura Deorum after he
had pubUshed Tusculan Disputations ; and that then,
to complete his treatment of the subject, he began
De Divinatione, intending to add a treatise De Fato.
The preface quoted was \vTitten soon after Caesar's
deatfi, but the work itself before it {id. § 7), as was
De Natura Deorum (see i. 4). Cicero's letter to Atticus
dated the Ides of June in 45 b.c. {Att. xiii. 8) shows
xii
INTRODUCTION TO DE NATURA DEORUM
him engaged upon the whole subject ; he requests
Atticus to send him ' Brutus's epitome of the works
of Caehus,' which he quotes N.D. ii. 8 and several
times in De Divi?iatione, and ' Philoxenus's copy of
Panaetius's Uepl Ilporotas,' which he follows at Div.
ii. 97 and quotes N.D. ii. 118. In a letter to Atticus
a Httle later (xiii. 8. 1) occur the words * Before
dawn, as I was writing against the Epicureans ' —
a reference to Cotta's speech in N.D. i. ; and the
next day he ^^Tites (^Att. xiii. 39- 2) ' I am very busy
writing ; send me . . . ^i^aLSpov Ilepl Gewi/ ' — which he
unquestionably required for N.D. i. He was there-
fore engaged on this treatise in the summer of 45 b.c,
while at the same time occupied on the Tusculans,
which he published first.
N.D. NOT coMPLETELY FiNiSHED. — ^Thcrc is no evi-
dence that he ever actually pubhshed N^.D. ; although
he speaks of it as ' finished ' {Div. ii. 3) it clearly lacks
his final touches. The dialogue as it stands is one
continuous conversation, ending at nightfall (iii. 94),
but traces remain suggesting that it was first cast
into three conversations held on three successive days,
each book containing one ; see ii. 73, " As you said
yesterday " (^vith note ad loc.) ; iii. 2, " I hope you have
come wellprepared " ; iii. 18, " AU that you saidthe day
before yesterday to prove the existence of the gods."
CoNTENTS OF N.D. — Dc Natura Deorum opens with
a preface dedicating the work to Cicero's friend
Brutus. Cicero explains how philosophy occupies his
retirement from pubhc life and consoles him in the
bereavement of his daughter's death ; and how the
undogmatic style of the Academic school of thought,
of which he was an adherent, was especially suited
to the subject of theology. The scene of the dialogue
INTRODUCTION TO DE NATURA DEORUM
is then laid and the characters introduced. The
theology of Epicurus is taken first. It is expounded
by Velleius (§§ 18-56), ^vho precedes his exposition by
a preUniinary attack on the theology and cosmogony
of Plato and the Stoics, and a refutation (§§ 25-41) of
the theology of the other schools from Thales do\vn-
ward. He is answered (§§ 57 to end) by the Academic
Cotta, who demohshes the Epicurean theology, and
pronounces Epicureanism to be really fatal to rehgion
(§115).
In Book ii. the Stoic theology is set out by Balbus,
who proves (1) the di\dne existence (§§ 4-44), and ex-
pounds (2) the divine nature (§§ 45-72), (3) the provi-
dential government of the world (§§ 73-153), and (4)
the care of providence for man (§§ 154 to end). Cotta
again rephes, in Book iii., giving the Academic criti-
cism of the Stoic theology under the same four heads :
(1) §§ 7-19, (2) §§ 20-64, (3) § 65 (the rest of this division
is lost), (4) §§ 66 to end.
Dramatis Personae. — Thus although as it stands
the dialogue is one continuous conversation with the
same persons present throughout, it falls into two
separate parts, in which two different speakers take
the lead ; but the rejoinder in both cases is made by
Cotta. Velleius the Epicurean speaker and Balbus
the Stoic are only known to us from this book, except
that De Oratore (iii. 78) gives Velleius as a friend of
the orator L. Licinius Crassus, and mentions ' duo
Balbi ' among the Stoics of the day. Both spokes-
men, and also Cotta the Academic, are spoken of here
as leaders in their schools (i. 16). Cotta had already
been commended to Cicero by Atticus {Att. xiii. 19- 3),
and had been mentioned by Cicero before in De Ora-
iore (iii. 145) as having joined the Academy ; Cicero
xiv
INTRODUCTION TO DE NATURA DEORUM
in his youth had listened eagerly to his oratory
{Brutus, 305, 317) ; he had been banished in 90 b.c.
under the Varian law {De Or. iii. 11), had returned to
Rome 82 b.c. {Brut. 311), and became consul 75 b.c.
and then proconsul of Gaul, but died before his
triumph. Cicero is almost a Koxf^ov TTpoaio-ov ; in the
Introduction (i. 16 f.) he makes a comphmentary reply
to Cotta's greeting, and one other short remark when
Velleius says that as another pupil of Philo he will be
a valuable ally for Cotta. Cotta in his reply to the
Epicurean exposition asks leave (ii. 104) to quote
Cicero's translation of the astronomical poem of
Aratus, but Cicero gives his consent by silence. At
the close of the work (iii. 95) Cicero ends by noting the
impression that the debate had made on his own mind.
SupposED Date of the Dialogue. — The imaginary
scene of the dialogue may be dated in 77 or 76 b.c.
In a list of political murders given by Cotta (iii. 60)
the latest is that of Q. Scaevola, which was in 82 b.c.
The Stoic professor Posidonius is spoken of as ' the
friend of us all' (i. 123), which seems to put the scene
after 78 b.c. when Cicero heard him lecture at Rhodes
(although he had visited Rome on an embassy from
Rhodes in 86 b.c.) ; but there is no reference to
Cotta's consulship, 75 b.c. The date suggested fits
in with the reference to P. Vatinius as ' adulescens '
(ii. 6) ; he became quaestor in QS b.c. when Cicero
was consul.
Sources of N.D. — It is of interest to try to ascertain
the sources from which Cicero gets his materials for
the treatise. In the Epicurean's review of the earher
Greek philosophers (i. 25-41) there are references to
their works, and later there are allusions to Epicurus's
writings (§ 43 Tiepl KpiTrjpLov rj Kavwv, ' a heavenly
XV
INTRODUCTION TO DE NATURA DEORUM
volume,' § 49, and §§ 45 and 85 the KvpLai, Ao^ai).
But there is nothing to prove that Cicero had read
these first-hand authorities , and it is more probable that
he followed his usual method of adapting his exposi-
tion of each division of his treatise from a single
recent writer. For the exposition of Epicureanism
which forms the first half of Book i. this was probably
a work of his master, Zeno. This conjecture has been
supported by a curious accident. Among the papyri
discovered at Herculaneum in 1752 is a mutilated
Epicurean treatise (fully pubhshed in a volume of
Herculaneiisia in 1862) ; there is reason to assign this
to Zeno's pupil, Philodemus ; and the fragments are
enough to show considerable agreement with N.D. i.
The Epicurean argument in N.D. i. has three parts :
a general attack on the Platonic and Stoic cosmology,
a review of the older philosophers, and an expositionof
Epicurean theology. In the papyrus the first part is
lostjbut it contains the two latter and they correspond
very closely with N.D., in spite of some differences ;
the two books even agree in quotations from Xeno-
phanes, Antisthenes, Aristotle, Chrysippus, and Dio-
genes of Babylon (N.D. i. §§ 31, 32, 33, 41). Mayor
thinks that both books take their topics and argu-
ments from Zeno, the teacher of both authors, and as
the historical review in both stops at the middle of
the second century b.c, Zeno's work may well have
been based in turn on one by his predecessor ApoUo-
dorus.
Coming to the Academic Cotta's criticism of Epi-
cureanism in the second half of Book i., the Stoic
Posidonius is referred to (i. 123) as ' the friend of us
all,' and his work On Nalure is quoted as authority
for part of the argument, and may be the source of
xvi
INTRODUCTION TO DE NATURA DEORUM
the whole ; there are Stoic touches throughout (§ 80
the jest at the Academy, § 95 the divinity of the
universe, § 100 the teleological argument, § 103
beasts born in fire, § 110 virtue as an active prin-
ciple, § 115 the definitions of piety and holiness,
§ 121 the union of man and God). But the Stoic
origin of the passage is disputed by some authorities,
and it has indeed an Academic colouring : it may
possibly come, like Book iii., from Chtomachus, the
editor of Carneades, though Carneades is noMhere
quoted here as he is in Book iii.
For the Stoic system in Book ii. Cicero probably
follows Posidonius. He was unhke most of his school
(1) in having literary tastes, and using an easy style
with historical illustrations, (2) in being interested in
science, and (3) in admiring Plato and Aristotle and
adapting Stoicism to suit their doctrines. These
features are seen in Cicero's exposition : (1) poetic
quotations occur in §§ 4, 65, 89, 104-114, 159, and his-
torical illustrations in §§ 6-1 1 , 61 , 69, 1 65 ; (2) § 88 refers
to the orrery of Posidonius and to astronomical de-
tails, tides, the ether, volcanoes, climate, human diet,
the kinship of plant, animal, and human life (an Aris-
totelian touch, confiicting yrith the older Stoicism),
the eternity of the rational soul (which ^\ith the early
Stoics perished in the universal Conflagration), the
origin of civilization (a rationahzation of the myth of
the Golden Age) ; (3) Plato is ' the god of philosophers *
§ 32, and Aristotle is praised §§ 95, 125, and many
details are borrowed from him.
The source of tlie Academic criticism of Stoic theo-
logy which occupies Book iii. is certainly Hasdrubal
of Carthage, better knoN^Ti under his Greek name of
Clitomachus. He was bom c. 180 b.c. and went to
xvii
INTRODUCTION TO DE NATURA DEORUM
Athens about the age o£ twenty-five, becoming the
pupil of Carneades and sueceeding him as head of
the Academy. He left voluminous records of the
doctrines of his master, who left none. Carneades
was the great source of all criticism of the Stoics,
especially of their theology : he ' was fond of tilting
at the Stoics,* N.D. ii. 162. The proof of the mor-
tahty of all animal hfe, N.D. iii. 29-34, and the sorites,
§§ 43-52, are exphcitly taken from Carneades.
MSS. — There are many mss. of Cicero containing
De Natura Deorum, but few are old and none earher
than the ninth century. All go back to one arche-
type, as is proved by errors, gaps, and transpositions
common to all ; but none seems to have been copied
directly from it, and there appear to have been two
hnes of tradition from it, exemphfied by two of
the oldest mss., which must be deemed the most im-
portant ; both belonged to Voss and are at Leyden —
A dating at the end of the ninth or beginning of the
tenth century, and B a httle later. They have many
errors and some considerable gaps in common, but
differ in many readings and transpositions. The other
superior mss. all group with A, viz. V (the Palatine, at
Vienna, almost of the same date), N (Bibhotheque
Nationale, Paris, twelfth century, descended from V),
O (Bodleian, end of twelfth century) ; and so do all
the inferior copies.
The present edition merely notes at the foot of the
page a few of the variants of A and B and of the
other Mss. (grouped together as deteriores) in places
where the true reading seems doubtful.
Editions. — For a full view of our evidence for the
text the student may be referred to the editions of
Plasberg (Leipzig, ed. majory 1911) revision announced
xviii
INTRODUCTION TO DE NATURA DEORUM
1930, ed. minor, 191'7'). The foundation of modern
texts is the edition of OreUi and Baiter (1861), based
on five mss., three mentioned above, A, B (called by
Orelli P) and V, another at Leyden (Heinsianus,
twelfth century), and one at Erlangen, E. The in-
valuable edition of Joseph Mayor (Cambridge, 1880-
1885) also employs evidence coUected from twelve
other Mss. by various scholars, and the texts of the
four editions pubhshed at the revival of learning, at
Venice (a.d. 1508), Paris (1511), Leipzig (1520), and
Basel (1534) : the sources of these texts are not en-
tirely kno\\Ti to modern scholars. In addition to his
elaborate critical notes Mayor supplies the student
with an exhaustive accumulation of explanatory and
illustrative commentary.
H. R.
1930.
See also the edition of A. S. Pease, Cambridge.
Mass., 1955, 1958.
XIX
LIST OF CICEROS WORKS
SHOWING THEIR DIVISION INTO
VOLUMES IN THIS
EDITION
VOLUME
A. Rhetorical Treatises. 5 Volumes
I. [Cicero], Rhetorica ad Herennium
II. De Inventione
De Optimo Genere Oratorum
Topica
III. De Oratore, Books I-II
IV. De Oratore, Book III
De Fato
Paradoxa Stoicorum
De Partitione Oratoria
V. Brutus
Orator
B xxi
LIST OF CICERCS WORKS
VOLUME
B. OrATIONS. 10 VOLUMES
VI. Pro Quinctio
Pro Roscio Amerino
Pro Roscio Comoedo
De Lege Agraria Contra Rullum I-III
VII. The Verrine Orations I :
In Q. Caecilium
In C. Verrem Actio I
In C. Verrem Actio II, Books I-II
VIII. The Verrine Orations II :
In C. Verrem Actio II, Books III-V
IX. De Imperio Cn. Pompei (Pro Lege Manilia)
Pro Caecina
Pro Cluentio
Pro Rabirio Perduellionis Reo
X. In Catilinam I-IV
Pro Murena
Pro Sulla
Pro Flacco
XI. Pro Archia
Post Reditum in Senatu
Post Reditum ad Quirites
xxii
LIST OF CICERCS WORKS
VOLUME
De Domo Sua
De Haruspicum Responsis
Pro Cn. Plancio
XII. Pro Sestio
In Vatinium
XIII. ProCaelio
De Provinciis Consularibus
Pro Balbo
XIV. Pro Milone
In Pisonem
Pro Scauro
Pro Fonteio
Pro Rabirio Postumo
Pro MarceUo
Pro Ligario
Pro Rege Deiotaro
XV. PhiUppics I-XIV
C. Philosophical Treatises. 6 Volumes
XVI. De Re Publica
De Legibus
XVII. De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum
xxiii
LIST OF CICERO'S WORKS
VOLUME
XVIII. Tusculan Disputations
XIX. De Natura Deorum
Academica I and II
XX. Cato Maior de Senectute
Laelius de Amicitia
De Divinatione
XXI. De Officiis
D. LeTTERS. 7 VOLUMES
XXII. Letters to Atticus, Books I-VI
XXIII. Letters to Atticus, Books VILXI
XXIV. Letters to Atticus, Books XII-XVI
XXV. Letters to His Friends, Books I-VI
XXVI. Letters to His Friends, Books VII-XII
XXVII. Letters to His Friends, Books XIII-XVI
XXVIII. Letters to His Brother Quintus
Letters to Brutus
Commentariolum Petitionis
Epistula ad Octavianum
DE NATURA DEORUM
M. TULLII CICERONIS
DE NATURA DEORUM
AD M. BRUTUM
LIBER PRIMUS
1 I. Cum multae res in philosophia nequaquam
satis adhuc exphcatae sint, tum perdifficiUs, Brute,
quod tu minime ignoras, et perobscura quaestio est
de natura deorum, quae et ad cognitionem animi
pulcherrima est et ad moderandam rehgionem ne-
cessaria. De qua tam variae sunt doctissimorum
hominum tamque discrepantes sententiae, ut magno
argumento esse debeat causam et principium philo-
sophiae esse inscientiam, prudenterque Academicos a
rebus incertis adsensionem cohibuisse : quid est enim
temeritate turpius ? aut quid tam temerarium
tamque indignum sapientis gravitate atque con-
stantia quam aut falsum sentire aut quod non satis
explorate perceptum sit et cognitum sine ulla
2 dubitatione defendere ? Velut in hac quaestione
plerique (quod maxime veri simile est et quo omnes
• Or perhaps * which is both of extreme scientific interest.'
MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO
DE NATURA DEORUM
BOOK I
1 I. There are a number of branches of philosophy preface.
that have not as yet been by any means adequately JpJ'n[on7as'
explored ; but the inquiry into the nature of the tx» the gods.
gods, which is both highly interesting in relation to
the theory of the soul,° and fundamentally important
for the regulation of rehgion, is one of special diffi-
culty and obscurity, as you, Brutus, are well aware.
The multipHcity and variety of the opinions held
upon this subject by eminent scholars are bound to
constitute a strong argument for the view that
philosophy has its origin and starting-point in
ignorance, and that the Academic School were well-
advised in " withholding assent " from behefs that
are uncertain : for what is more unbecoming than
ill-considered haste ? and what is so ill-considered
or so unworthy of the dignity and seriousness
proper to a philosopher as to hold an opinion that
is not true, or to maintain with unhesitating certainty
a proposition not based on adequate examination,
2 comprehension and knowledge ? As regards the Atheism.
present subject, for example, most thinkers have
affirmed that the gods exist, and this is the most
3
CICERO
duce natura venimus) deos esse dixerunt, dubitare
se Protagoras, nullos esse omnino Diagoras Melius et
Theodorus Cyrenaicus putaverunt. Qui vero deos
esse dixerunt, tanta sunt in varietate et dissensione
ut eorum molestum sit enumerare sententias. Nam
et de figuris deorum et de locis atque sedibus et de
actione vitae multa dicuntur, deque his summa
philosophorum dissensione certatur ; quod vero
maxime rem causamque continet, utrum nihil agant,
nihil moUantur, omni curatione et administratione
rerum vacent, an contra ab iis et a principio omnia
facta et constituta sint et ad infinitum tempus
regantur atque moveantur, in primis magna dissensio
est, eaque nisi diiudicatur in summo errore necesse
est homines atque in maximarum rerum ignoratione
3 versari. II. Sunt enim philosophi et fuerunt qui
omnino nuUam habere censerent rerum humanarum
procurationem deos. Quorum si vera sententia est,
quae potest esse pietas, quae sanctitas, quae rehgio ?
Haec enim omnia pure atque caste tribuenda deorum
numini ita sunt, si animadvertuntur ab iis et si est
ahquid a deis inmortaUbus hominum generi tributum.
Sin autem dei neque possunt nos iuvare nec volunt,
nec omnino curant nec quid agamus animadvertunt,
nec est quod ab iis ad hominum vitam permanare
4
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. i.— ii.
probable view and the one to which we are all led by
nature's guidance ; but Protagoras declared himself
uncertain, and Diagoras of Melos and Theodorus of
Cyrene held that there are no gods at all. More-
over, the upholders of the di\1ne existence differ and
disagree so widely, that it would be a troublesome
task to recount their opinions. Many views are put
forward about the outward form of the gods, their
dweUing-places and abodes, and mode of hfe, and
these topics are debated with the ^ddest variety of
opinion among philosophers ; but as to the question
upon which the whole issue of the dispute principally
turns, whetherthe gods are entirely idle and inactive,
taking no part at all in the direction and government
of the world, or whether on the contrary all things
both were created and ordered by them in the begin-
ning and are controlled and kept in motion by them
throughout etemity, here there is the greatest dis-
agreement of all. And until this issue is decided,
mankind must continue to labour under the pro-
foundest uncertainty, and to be in ignorance about
matters of the highest moment. 11. For there are Denialof
and have been philosophers w^ho hold that the gods providence.
exercise no control over human affairs whatever.
But if their opinion is the true one, how can piety,
reverence or reUgion exist ? For all these are
tributes which it is our duty to render in purity and
hohness to the divine powers solely on the assump-
tion that they take notice of them, and that some
service has been rendered by the immortal gods to the
race of men. But if on the contrary the gods have
neither the power nor the will to aid us, if they pay no
heed to us at all and take no notice of our actions, if
they can exert no possible influence upon the Ufe of
5
CICERO
possit, quid est quod ullos deis inmortalibus cultus
honores preces adhibeamus ? In specie autem fictae
simulationis sicut rehquae virtutes item pietas inesse
non potest, cum qua simul sanctitatem et reUgionem
toUi necesse est ; quibus sublatis perturbatio vitae
4 sequitur et magna confusio,^ atque haud scio an
pietate adversus deos sublata fides etiam et societas
generis humani et una excellentissima virtus iustitia
tollatur.
Sunt autem aUi philosophi, et ii quidem magni
atque nobiles, qui deorum mente atque ratione
omnem mundum administrari et regi censeant,
neque vero id solum, sed etiam ab isdem hominum
vitae consuU et provideri ; nam et fruges et rehqua
quae terra pariat, et tempestates ac temporum varie-
tates caehque mutationes quibus omnia quae terra
gignat maturata pubescant, a dis inmortaUbus tribui
generi humano putant, multaque (quae dicentur in
his Ubris) coUigunt quae taUa sunt ut ea ipsa dei
inmortales ad usum hominum fabricati paene videan-
tur. Contra quos Carneades ita multa disseruit ut
excitaret homines non socordes ad veri investigandi
5 cupiditatem. Res enim nuUa est de qua tantopere
non solum indocti sed etiam docti dissentiant ;
quorum opiniones cum tam variae sint tamque inter
se dissidentes, alterum fieri profecto potest ut
* quibus . . . confusio infra post toUatur tr. Wyttenhach,
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. ii.
men, what ground have we for rendering any sort of
worship, honour or prayer to the immortal gods ?
Piety however, hke the rest of the virtues, cannot
exist in mere outward show and pretence ; and, with
piety, reverence and rehgion must hkewise disappear.
And when these are gone, hfe soon becomes a welter
4 of disorder and confusion ; and in all probabihty the
disappearance of piety towards the gods will entail
the disappearance of loyalty and social union among
men as well, and of justice itself, the queen of all
the virtues.
There are however other philosophers, and those of Beiief in
eminence and note, who beheve that the whole world p^°^''^®°°*
is ruled and governed by divine intelligence and
reason ; and not this only, but also that the gods'
providence watches over the hfe of men ; for they
think that the corn and other fruits of the earth,
and also the weather and the seasons and the
changes of the atmosphere by which all the products
of the soil are ripened and matured, are the gift
of the immortal gods to the human race ; and they
adduce a number of things, which will be recounted
in the books that compose the present treatise, that
are of such a nature as almost to appear to have been
expressly constructed by the immortal gods for the use
of man. This view was controverted at great length
by Carneades, in such a manner as to arouse in
persons of active mind a keen desire to discover the
6 truth, There is in fact no subject upon which so
much difference of opinion exists, not only among
the unlearned but also among educated men ; and
the views entertained are so various and so discrepant,
that, while it is no doubt a possible alternative that
CICERO
eariun nulla, alterum certe non potest ut plus una
vera sit.
III. Qua quidem in causa et benivolos obiur-
gatores placare et invidos vituperatores confutare
possumus, ut alteros reprehendisse paeniteat, alteri
didicisse se gaudeant ; nam qui admonent amice
docendi sunt, qui inimice insectantur repellendi.^
6 Multum autem fluxisse video de libris nostris, quos
compluris brevi tempore edidimus, variumque ser-
monem partim admirantium unde hoc philosophandi
nobis subito studium extitisset, partim quid quaque
de re certi haberemus scire cupientium. Multis
etiam sensi mirabile videri eam nobis potissimum
probatam esse philosophiam quae lucem eriperet et
quasi noctem quandam rebus offunderet, desertaeque
disciphnae et iam pridem rehctae patrocinium nec-
opinatum a nobis esse susceptum.
Nos autem nec subito coepimus philosophari nec
mediocrem a primo tempore aetatis in eo studio
operam curamque consumpsimus et cum minime
videbamur, tum maxime philosophabamur, quod et
orationes declarant refertae philosophorum senten-
tiis et doctissimorum hominum famiharitates quibus
semper domus nostra floruit, et principes iUi Diodotus
Philo Antiochus Posidonius a quibus instituti sumus.
7 Et si omnia philosophiae praecepta referuntur ad
vitam, arbitramur nos et pubhcis et privatis in rebus
^ qua . . . repellendi infra 'post susceptum tr. Mayor,
a
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. ii.— iii.
none of them is true, it is certainly impossible that
more than one should be so.
III. Upon this issue we are able both to appease Author'8
kindly critics and to silence malicious fault-finders, critics.
causing the latter to repent of their censure and the
former to welcome an accession to their knowledge.
Friendly remonstrance must be met by explanation,
hostile attack by refutation.
6 I observe however that a great deal of talk has
been current about the large number of books that
I have produced within a short space of time, and
that such comment has not been all of one kind ;
some people have been curious as to the cause of this
sudden outburst of philosophical interest on my part,
while others have been eager to learn what positive
opinions I hold on the various questions. Many also,
as I have noticed, are surprised at my choosing to
espouse a philosophy that in their view robs the
world of dayhght and floods it with a darkness as of
night ; and they wonder at my coming forward so
unexpectedly as the champion of a derelict system
and one that has long been given up.
As a matter of fact however I am no new convert Phij?sophy
to^the study of philosophy. From my earUest youth study. "^
I have devoted no small amount of time and energy to
it, and I pursued it most keenly at the very periods
when I least appeared to be doing so, ^vitness the
philosophical maxims of which my speeches are fuU,
and my intimacy with the learned men who have
always graced my household, as well as those eminent
professors, Diodotus, Philo, Antiochus and Posidonius,
7 who were my instructors. Moreover, if it be true
that all the doctrines of philosophy have a practical
bearing, I may claim that in my pubhc and private
9
CICERO
ea praestitisse quae ratio et doctrina praescripserit.
IV. Sin autem quis requirit quae causa nos inpulerit
ut haec tam sero litteris mandaremus, nihil est quod
expedire tam facile possimus. Nam cum otio lan-
gueremus et is esset rei pubHcae status ut eam
unius consiUo atque cura gubernari necesse esset,
primum ipsius rei pubhcae causa philosophiam nostris
hominibus expUcandam putavi, magni existimans
interesse ad decus et ad laudem civitatis res tam
gravis tamque praeclaras Latinis etiam htteris con-
8 tineri ; eoque me minus instituti mei paenitet quod
facile sentio quam multorum non modo discendi sed
etiam scribendi studia commoverim. Complures
enim Graecis institutionibus eruditi ea quae didi-
cerant cum civibus suis communicare non poterant,
quod illa quae a Graecis accepissent I/atine dici posse
diffiderent : quo in genere tantum profecisse videmur
ut a Graecis ne verborum quidem copia vincere-
9 mur. Hortata etiam est ut me ad haec conferrem
animi aegritudo fortunae magna et gravi commota
iniuria ; cuius si maiorem ahquam levationem reperire
potuissem, non ad hanc potissimum confugissem,
ea vero ipsa nulla ratione mehus frui potui quam si
me non modo ad legendos hbros sed etiam ad totam
" The death of his daughter in 45 b.c.
10
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. iii.— iv.
conduct alike I have practised the precepts tau^i^ht PWiosophi
by reason and by theory, IV. If again anyone asks an occupa-
what motive has induced me so late in the dav to ^*°" ^°^i,[^
, i. retirement,
commit these precepts to writing, there is nothmg a patnotic
that I can explain more easily. I was languishing consoiatioa
in idle retirement, and the state of pubhc affairs was j»» his
such that an autocratic form of government had ment.
become inevitable. In these circumstances, in the
first place I thought that to expound philosophy to my
fellow-countrymen was actually my duty in the in-
terests of the commonwealth, since in my judgement
it would greatly contribute to the honour and glory
of the state to have thoughts so important and so
8 lofty enshrined in Latin Uterature also ; and I am
the less inchned to repent of my undertaking because
I can clearly perceive what a number of my readers
have been stimulated not only to study but to
become authors themselves. A great many accom-
phshed students of Greek learning were unable to
share their acquisitions with their fellow-citizens,
on the ground that they doubted the possibiUty of
conveying in Latin the teachings they had received
from the Greeks. In the matter of style however I
beheve that we have made such progress that even
in richness of vocabulary the Greeks do not surpass us.
9 Another thing that urged me to this occupation was
the dejection of spirit occasioned by the heavy and
crushing blow** that had been dealt me by fortune.
Had I been able to fmd any more effective rehef
from my sorrow, I should not have had recourse to this
particular form of consolation ; but the best way open
to me of enjoying even this consolation to the fuU
extent was to devote myself not only to reading
books but also to composing a treatise on the whole
11
CICERO
philosophiam pertractandam dedissem. Omnes au-
tem eius partes atque omnia membra tum facillume
noscuntur cum totae quaestiones scribendo explican-
tur ; est enim admirabilis quaedam continuatio
seriesque rerum, ut alia ex alia nexa et omnes inter
se aptae conUgataeque videantur.
10 V. Qui autem requirunt quid quaque de re ipsi
sentiamus, curiosius id faciunt quam necesse est ;
non enim tam auctoritatis in disputando quam
rationis momenta quaerenda sunt. Quin etiam obest
plerumque iis qui discere volunt auctoritas eorum
qui se docere profitentur ; desinunt enim suum
iudicium adhibere, id habent ratum quod ab eo quem
probant iudicatum \ident. Nec vero probare soleo
id quod de Pythagoreis accepimus, quos ferunt, si
quid adfirmarent in disputando, cum ex eis quaere-
retur quare ita esset, respondere solitos ' Ipse dixit ' ;
* ipse * autem erat Pythagoras : tantum opinio prae-
iudicata poterat, ut etiam sine ratione valeret
auctoritas.
11 Qui autem admirantur nos hanc potissimum
discipUnam secutos, iis quattuor Academicis hbris
satis responsum videtur. Nec vero desertarum re-
hctarumque rerum patrocinium suscepimus ; non
enim hominum interitu sententiae quoque occidunt,
sed lucem auctoris fortasse desiderant ; ut haec in
• AvToj ^(p-n : as one might say * The Master said so.*
12
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. iv.— v.
of philosophy. Now the readiest mode of iniparting
a knowledge of the subject in all its departments and
branches is to wTite an exposition of the various
methods in their entirety ; since it is a striking
characteristic of philosophy that its topics all hang
together and form a consecutive system ; one is seen
to be linked to another, and all to be mutually
connected and attached.,,
V. Those however who seek to learn my personal Lack of
opinion on the various questions show an unreasonable juS^Yd!™
degree of curiosity. In discussion it is not so much
weight of authority as force of argument that should
be demanded. Indeed the authority of those who
profess to teach is often a positive hindrance to those
who desire to learn ; they cease to employ their own
judgement, and take what they perceive to be the
verdict of their chosen master as setthng the question.
In fact I am not disposed to approve the practice tra-
ditionally ascribed to the Pythagoreans, who, when
questioned as to the grounds of any assertion that
they advanced in debate, are said to have been
accustomed to reply * He himself said so,' ° * he
himself being Pythagoras. So potent was an
opinion aheady decided, making authority prevail
unsupported by reason.
To those again who are surprised at my choice of Academic
a system to which to give my allegiance, I think that a ^rSbabUit^
sufficient answer has been given in the four books
of my Academica. Nor is it the case that I have
come forward as the champion of a lost cause and of
a position now abandoned. When men die, their doc-
trines do not perish with them, though perhaps they
sufFer from the loss of their authoritative exponent.
Take for example the philosophical method referred
13
CICERO
philosophia ratio contra omnia disserendi nullamque
rem aperte iudicandi profecta a Socrate, repetita ab
Arcesila, confirmata a Carneade usque ad nostram
viguit aetatem ; quam nunc prope modum orbam
esse in ipsa Graecia intellego. Quod non Academiae
vitio sed tarditate hominum arbitror contigisse ; nam
si singulas discipUnas percipere magnum est, quanto
maius omnis ? quod facere iis necesse est quibus
propositum est veri reperiendi causa et contra omnis
12 philosophos et pro omnibus dicere. Cuius rei tantae
tamque difficiUs facultatem consecutum esse me non
profiteor, secutum esse prae me fero. Nec tamen
fieri potest ut qui hac ratione philosophentur ii nihil
habeant quod sequantur. Dictum est omnino de
hac re aho loco dihgentius. sed quia nimis indociles
quidam tardique sunt admonendi videntur saepius.
Non enim sumus ii quibus nihil verum esse videatur,
sed ii qui omnibus veris falsa quaedam adiuncta
esse dicamus tanta simiUtudine ut in iis nuUa insit
certa iudicandi et adsentiendi nota. Ex quo exstitit
iUudj multa esse probabiUa, quae quamquam non per-
ciperentur, tamen, quia visum quendam haberent
insignem et inlustrem iis sapientis vita regeretur.
13 VI. Sed iam, ut omni me invidia liberem, ponam
in medio sententias philosophorum de natura deorum.
" The Stoics on the contrary held that true sensations are
distinguished from false ones by an infallible mark {(xrj/xelov^
nota, signum.) and command our instinctive assent to their
truth.
14
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. v.— vi.
to, that of a purely negative dialectic which refrains
from pronouncing any positive judgement. This,
after being originated by Socrates, revived by
Arcesilas, and reinforced by Carneades, has flourished
right down to our own period ; though I understand
that in Greece itself it is now almost bereft of ad-
herents. But this I ascribe not to the fault of the
Academy but to the dullness of mankind. If it is a
considerable matter to understand any one of the
systems of philosophy singly, how much harder is it to
master them all ! Yet this is the task that confronts
those whose principle is to discover the truth by the
method of arguing both for and against all the schools.
12 In an undertaking so extensive and so arduous, I do
not profess to have attained success, though I do
claim to have attempted it. At the same time
it would be impossible for the adherents of this
method to dispense altogether with any standard of
guidance. This matter it is true I have discussed
elsewhere more thoroughly ; but some people are
so duU and slow of apprehension that they appear
to require repeated explanations. Our position is
not that we hold that nothing is true, but that we
assert that all true sensations are associated ^vith
false ones so closely resembhng them that they
contain no infalhble mark to guide our judgement
and assent.'* From this followed the corollary, that
many sensations are probable, that is, though not
amounting to a full perception they are yet possessed
of a certain distinctness and clearness, and so can
serve to direct the conduct of the wise man.
.3 VI. However, to free myself entirely from ill- Undoematw
disposed criticism, I will now lay before my readers 8pe!^iiy°
the doctrines of the various schools on the nature approp"**»
15
CICERO
Quo quidem loco convocandi omnes videntur quj
quae sit earum vera iudicent ; tum demum mihi
procax^ Academia videbitur, si aut consenserint
omnes aut erit inventus aliquis qui quid verum sit
invenerit. Itaque mihi hbet exclamare ut in' Syne-
phehts :
pro deum, popularium omnium, <6mnium>' adulescen-
tium
clamo postulo obsecro oro ploro atque inploro fidem
non levissuma de re, ut queritur ille ' in civitate ' fieri
* facinora capitalia ' —
ab amico amante argentum accipere meretrix non vult,
14 sed ut adsint cognoscant animadvertant, quid de
religione pietate sanctitate caerimoniis fide iure
iurando, quid de templis delubris sacrificiisque sollem-
nibus, quid de ipsis auspiciis quibus nos praesumus
existimandum sit (haec enim omnia ad hanc de dis
inmortalibus quaestionem referenda sunt) : profecto
eos ipsos qui se ahquid certi habere arbitrantur
addubitare coget doctissimorum hominum de maxuma
re tanta dissensio.
16 Quod cum saepe alias, tum maxime animadverti
cura apud C. Cottam famiUarem meum accurate sane
et dihgenter de dis inmortahbus disputatum est.
Nam cum feriis Latinis ad eum ipsius rogatu arcessi-
* pervicax Reid.
' ut Statius in dett. : ut est in, ut ille in edd.^ sed nescio
an personae nomen exciderit. ^ add. Manutius.
* A play of Caecilius Statius translated from Menander.
* Cicero was elected a member of the College of Augurs
in 53 B.o.
16
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. vi.
of the gods. This is a topic on which it seems proper to the
to summon all the world to sit in judgement and thStreatfse
pronounce which of these doctrines is the true one. Theology.
If it turn out that all the schools agree, or if any
one philosopher be found who has discovered the
truth, then but not before I will convict the Academy
of captiousness. This being so, I feel disposed to ery,
in the words of the Young Comrades <* :
ye gods and O ye mortals, townsmen, gownsmen, hear
my call;
1 invoke, implore, adjure ye, bear ye witness one and all —
not about some frivolous trifle such as that of which
a character in the play complains —
. . . here's a monstrous crime and outrage in the land ;
Here's a lady who decUnes a guinea from a lover's hand !
14 but to attend in court, try the case, and dehver their
verdict as to what opinions we are to hold about
reHgion, piety and hoUness, about ritual, abouthonour
and loyalty to oaths, about temples, shrines and
solemn sacrifices, and about the very auspices over
which I myself preside ^ ; for all of these matters
ultimately depend upon this question of the nature
of the immortal gods. Surely such wide diversity of
opinion among men of the greatest learning on a
matter of the highest moment must affect even those
who think that they possess certain knowledge with a
feeUng of doubt.
15 This has often struck me, but it did so with especial introduc-
force on one occasion, when the topic of the immortal dSogue.^*
gods was made the subject of a very searching and
thorough discussion at the house of my friend Gaius
Cotta. It was the Latin Festival, and I had come
at Cotta*s express invitation to pay him a visit. I
17
CICERO
tuque venissem, offendi eum sedentem in exedra et
cum C. Velleio senatore disputantem, ad quem tum
Epicurei primas ex nostris hominibus deferebant.
Aderat etiam Q. Lucilius Balbus, qui tantos pro-
gressus habebat in Stoicis ut cum excellentibus in
eo genere Graecis compararetur.
Tum ut me Cotta vidit, " Peropportune " inquit
" venis ; oritur enim mihi magna de re altercatio
cum Velleio, cui pro tuo studio non est alienum te
interesse."
16 VII. " Atqui mihi quoque videor " inquam " ve-
nisse ut dicis opportune. Tres enim trium discipHna-
rum principes convenistis. M. enim^ Piso si adesset,
nulUus philosophiae, earum quidem quae in honore
sunt, vacaret locus."
Tum Cotta " Si," inquit, " Hber Antiochi nostri,
qui ab eo nuper ad hunc Balbum missus est, vera
loquitur, nihil est quod Pisonem famiharem tuum
desideres ; Antiocho enim Stoici cum Peripateticis
re concinere videntur, verbis discrepare ; quo de
Hbro, Balbe, veHm scire quid sentias."
" Egone ? " inquit ille, " miror Antiochum homi-
nem in primis acutum non vidisse interesse plurimum
inter Stoicos, qui honesta a commodis non nomine sed
genere toto diiungerent, et Peripateticos, qui honesta
commiscerent cum commodis, ut ea inter se magni-
tudine et quasi gradibus, non genere differrent.
Haec enim est non verborum parva sed rerum per-
* etiam Heindorf^ autem Miiller.
18
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. vi.— vii.
found him sitting in an alcove, engaged in debate
with Gaius Velleius, a Member of the Senate,
accounted by the Epicureans as their chief Roman
adherent at the time. With them was Quintus
LuciUus Balbus, who was so accomplished a student
of Stoicism as to rank ^^ith the leading Greek ex-
ponents of that system.
When Cotta saw me, he greeted me with the words :
*' You come exactly at the right moment, for I am
just engaging in a dispute with \^elleius on an im-
portant topic, in which you with your tastes will be
interested to take part."
16 VII. " Well, I too," I replied, " think I have come
at the right moment, as you say. For here are you,
three leaders of three schools of philosophy, met in
congress. In fact we only want Marcus Piso to have
every considerable school represented."
" Oh," rejoined Cotta, " if what is said in the book
which our master Antiochus lately dedicated to our
good Balbus here is true, you have no need to regret
the absence of your friend Piso. Antiochus holds
the view that the doctrines of the Stoics, though
differing in form of expression, agree in substance
with those of the Peripatetics. I should like to
know your opinion of the book, Balbus."
" My opinion ? " said Balbus, " Why, I am sur-
prised that a man of first-rate intellect like Antiochus
should have failed to see what a gulf divides the
Stoics, who distinguish expediency and right not in
name only but in essential nature, from the Peripa-
tetics, who class the right and the expedient together,
and only recognize differences of quantity or degree,
not of kind, between them. This is not a slight
verbal discrepancy, but a fundamental difference of
19
CICERO
17 magna dissensio. Verum hoc alias ; nunc quod
coepimus, si videtur."
*' Mihi vero," inquit Cotta, ** videtur. Sed ut hic
qui intervenit ** me intuens ** ne ignoret quae res
agatur, de natura agebamus deorum, quae cum mihi
videretur perobscura, ut semper videri solet, Epicuri
ex Velleio sciscitabar sententiam. Quam ob rem,"
inquit " Vellei, nisi molestum est, repete quae coe-
peras."
" Repetam vero, quamquam non mihi sed tibi
hic venit adiutor ; ambo enim " inquit adridens,
" ab eodem Philone nihil scire didicistis."
Tum ego : " Quid didicerimus Cotta viderit, tu
autem nolo me existimes adiutorem huic venisse
sed auditorem, et quidem aequum, Hbero iudicio,
nulla eius modi adstrictum necessitate ut mihi vehm
noHm sit certa quaedam tuenda sententia."
18 VIII. Tum Velleius fidenter sane, ut solent isti,
nihil tam verens quam ne dubitare ahqua de re
videretur, tamquam modo ex deorum conciho et ex
Epicuri intermundiis descendisset, " Audite " inquit,
** non futtihs commenticiasque sententias, non opi-
ficem aedificatoremque mundi, Platonis de Timaeo
deum, nec anum fatidicam Stoicorum irpovoLau,
quam Latine hcet providentiam dicere, neque vero
■ Epicurus taught that gods dwelt in empty spaces
between the material worlds.
20
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. vii.— viii.
17 doctrine. However we can discuss this some other
time, For the moment we will, if you please, con-
tinue the topic which we had begun."
" Agreed," cried Cotta ; " but to let the new-
coraer know what is the subject of discussion " — •
here he glanced at me — " I ^vill explain that we
were debating the nature of the gods : a question
which seemed to me, as it always does, an extremely
obscure one, and upon which I was therefore
inquiring of Velleius as to the opinion of Epicurus.
So if you do not mind, Velleius," he continued,
** please resume the exposition that you had begun."
" I will do so," replied Velleius, ** although it is
not I but you who have been reinforced by an ally —
since both of you," he said, with a smile in our
direction, " are disciples of Philo, and have learned
from him to know nothing."
" What we have learned," I rejoined, " shall be
Cotta's affair ; but pray don't think I have come to
act as his ally, but as a Hstener, and an impartial and
unprejudiced Ustener too, under no sort of bond or
obligation willy nilly to uphold some fixed opinion."
18 VIII. Hereupon Velleius began, in the confident Theoiogy of
manner (I need not say) that is customary with expounded
Epicureans, afraid of nothing so much as lest he should ^y Tl^lgl"^
appear to have doubts about anything. One would
have supposed he had just come down from the
assembly of the gods in the intermundane spaces of
Epicurus"! "I am not going to expound to you
doctrines that are mere baseless figments of the
imagination, such as the artisan deity and world-
builder of Plato's Timaeus, or that old hagof a fortune-
teller, the Pronoia (which we may render ' Providence ')
of the Stoics ; nor yet a world endowed with a mind and
21
CICERO
mundum ipsum animo et sensibus praeditum, rotun-
dum ardentem volubilem deum, portenta et miracula
non disserentium philosophorum sed somniantium.
19 Quibus enim ocuUs animi^ intueri potuit vester Plato
fabricam illam tanti operis, qua construi a deo atque
aedificari mundum facit ? quae moHtio, quae ferra-
menta, qui vectes, quae machinae, qui ministri tanti
muneris fuerunt ? quem ad modum autem oboedire
et parere voluntati architecti aer ignis aqua terra
potuerunt ? unde vero ortae illae quinque formae ex
quibus rehqua formantur, apte cadentes ad animum
afficiendum pariendosque sensus ? Longum est ad
omnia, quae taUa sunt ut optata magis quam inventa
20 videantur ; sed illa palmaria,^ quod qui non modo
natum mundum introduxerit sed etiam manu paene
factum, is eum dixerit fore sempiternum. Hunc
censes primis ut dicitur labris gustasse physiologiam,
id est naturae rationem, qui quicquam quod ortum
sit putet aeternum esse posse ? Quae est enim
coagmentatio non dissolubihs ? aut quid est cui
principium aliquod sit, nihil sit extremum ? Pronoea
vero si vestra est, Lucih, eadem,' requiro quae
paulo ante, ministros machinas omnem totius operis
dissignationem atque apparatum ; sin aha est, cur
mortalem fecerit mundum, non quem ad modum
21 Platonicus deus sempiternum. IX. Ab utroque au-
^ animi om. ed. Veneta.
2 palmaria Davies : palmaris.
' eadem, <eadem> Heindor/.
* Pyramid, cube, octohedron, dodecahedron, eicosihedron ;
the shapes respectively of the particles of fire, earth, air,
aether, water.
22
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. viii.— ix.
senses of its own, a spherical, rotatory god of burning
fire ; these are the marvels and monstrosities of
19 philosophers who do not reason but dream. What
power of mental vision enabled your master Plato piatonic
to descry the vast and elaborate architectural process t^^eof^J^e^
which, as he makes out, the deity adopted in building and
the structure of the universe ? What method of rSuielf
engineering was employed ? VVhat tools and levers
and derricks ? What agents carried out so vast an
undertaking ? And how were air, fire, water and
earth enabled to obey and execute the will of the
architect ? How did the five regular solids,<* which
are the basis of all other forms of matter, come into
existence so nicely adapted to make impressions on
our minds and produce sensations ? It would be a
lengthy task to advert upon every detail of a system
that is such as to seem the result of idie theorizing
20 rather than of real research ; but the prize example
is that the thinker who represented the world not
merely as having had an origin but even as almost
made by hand, also declared that it will exist for
ever. Can you suppose that a man can have even
dipped into natural philosophy if he imagines that
anything that has come into being can be eternal ?
What composite whole is not capable of dissolution ?
What thing is there that has a beginning but not an
end ? While as for your Stoic Providence, Lucilius,
if it is the same thing as Plato's creator, I repeat my
previous questions, what were its agents and instru-
ments, and how was the entire undertaking planned
out and carried through ? If on the contrary it is
something different, I ask why it made the world
mortal, and not everlasting as did Plato's divine
21 creator f IX. Moreover I would put to both of you
23
CICERO
tem sciscitor cur mundi aedificatores repente ex-
stiterint, innumerabilia saecla dormierint ; non enim,
si mundus nullus erat, saecla non erant (saecla nunc
dico non ea quae dierum noctiumque numero annuis
cursibus conficiuntur, nam fateor ea sine mundi
conversione effici non potuisse ; sed fuit quaedam ab
infinito tempore aeternitas, quam nulla circum-
scriptio temporum metiebatur, spatio tamen qualis
ea fuerit intellegi potest,^ quod ne in cogitationem
quidem cadit ut fuerit tempus aliquod nullum cum
22 tempus esset) — isto igitur tam inmenso spatio quaero,
Balbe, cur Pronoea vestra cessaverit. Laboremne
fugiebat ? At iste nec attingit deum nec erat uUus,
cum omnes naturae numini divino, caelum ignes
terrae maria, parerent. Quid autem erat quod con-
cupisceret deus mundum signis et luminibus tam-
quam aedilis ornare ? Si ut [deus]^ ipse melius
habitaret, antea videlicet tempore infinito in tenebris
tamquam in gurgustio habitaverat ; post autem
varietatene eum delectari putamus qua caelum et
terras exornatas videmus ? Quae ista potest esse
oblectatio deo ? quae si esset, non ea tam diu carere
23 potuisset. An haec, ut fere dicitis, hominum causa
a deo constituta sunt ? Sapientiumne ? Propter
paucos igitur tanta est facta rerum moUtio. An
stultorum ? At primum causa non fuit cur de in-
probis bene mereretur ; deinde quid est adsecutus ?
^ intellegi non potest dett.
2 secl. Ernesti.
" There is a play on words in signis et luminihust which
denote both the constellations and luminaries of the sky
and the statues and illuminations with which the aedileg
adorned the city for festivals.
24
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. ix.
the question, why did these deities suddenly awake
into activity as world-builders after countless ages of
slumber ? for though the world did not exist, it does
not follow that ages did not exist — meaning by ages,
not periods made up of a number of days and nights
in annual courses, for ages in this sense I admit could
not have been produced without the circular motion of
the firmament ; but from the infinite past there has
existed an eternity not measured by limited divisions
of time, but of a nature intelHgible in terms of exten-
sion ; since it is inconceivable that there was ever a
22 time when time did not exist. Well then, Balbus,
what I ask is, why did your Providence remain idle all
through that extent of time of which you speak ?
Was it in order to avoid fatigue ? But god cannot
know fatigue ; and also there was no fatigue in
question, since all the elements, sky, fire, earth and
sea, were obedient to the divine will. Also, why
should god take a fancy to decorate the firmament
with figures and illuminations,'^ Hke an aedile ?
If it was to embelHsh his own abode, then it seems
that he had previously been dwelHng for an infinite
time in a dark and gloomy hovel ! And are we to
suppose that thenceforward the varied beauties which
we see adorning earth and sky have afforded him
pleasure ? How can a god take pleasure in things
of this sort ? And if he did, he could not have dis-
23 pensed with it so long. Or were these beauties
designed for the sake of men, as your school usually
maintains ? For the sake of wise men ? If so, all
this vast effort of construction took place on account
of a handful of people. For the sake of fools then ?
But in the first place there was no reason for god to
do a service to the wicked ; and secondly, what good
25
CICERO
cum omnes stulti sint sine dubio miserrimi, maxime
quod stulti sunt(miserius enim stultitia quid possumus
dicere ?), deinde quod ita multa sunt incommoda in
vita ut ea sapientes commodorum conpensatione
leniant, stulti nec vitare venientia possint nec ferre
praesentia ? X. Qui vero mundum ipsum animan-
tem sapientemque esse dixerunt, nullo modo vide-
runt animi natura intellegentis in quam figuram
cadere posset. De quo dicam equidem paulo post,
24 nunc autem hactenus : admirabor eorum tarditatem
qui animantem inmortalem et eundem beatum ro-
tundum esse velint quod ea forma neget uUam esse
pulchriorem Plato ; at mihi vel cyUndri vel quadrati
vel coni vel pyramidis videtur esse formosior. Quae
vero vita tribuitur isti rotundo deo ? Nempe ut ea
celeritate contorqueatur cui par nulla ne cogitari
quidem possit ; in qua non video ubinam mens
constans et vita beata possit insistere. Quodque in
nostro corpore si minima ex parte t significetur*
molestum sit, cur hoc idem non habeatur molestum
in deo ? Terra enim profecto, quoniam mundi pars
est, pars est etiam dei ; atqui terrae maxumas
regiones inhabitabiUs atque incultas videmus, quod
pars earum adpulsu sohs exarserit, pars obriguerit
nive pruinaque longinquo sohs abscessu ; quae, si
mundus est deus, quoniam mundi partes sunt, dei
* sic afficiatur Schomann i <frigore aut solis igni> uexetur
Goethg,
26
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. ix.— x.
did he do ? inasmuch as all fools are beyond question
extremely miserable, precisely because they are fools
(for what can be mentioned more miserable than
folly ?), and in the second place because there are so
many troubles in hfe that, though wise men can
assuage them by balancing against them Hfe's
advantages, fools can neither avoid their approach
nor endure their presence. X. Those on the
other hand who said that the world is itself en-
dowed with hfe and with wisdom, failed entirely to
discern what shape the nature of an inteUigent
hving being could conceivably possess. I will touch
24 on this a Uttle later ; for the present I wiU confine
myself to expressing my surprise at their stupidity
in holding that a being who is immortal and
also blessed is of a spherical shape, merely on the
ground that Plato pronounces a sphere to be the most
beautiful of aU figures. For my own part, on the
score of appearance I prefer either a cyUnder or acube
or a cone or a pyramid. Then, what mode of exist-
ence is assigned to their spherical deity ? Why, he
is in a state of rotation, spinning round with a
velocity that surpasses aU powers of conception. But
what room there can be in such an existence for
steadfastness of mind and for happiness, I cannot see.
Also, why should a condition that is painful in the
human body, if even the smaUest part of it is affected,
be supposed to be painless in the deity ? Now
clearly the earth, being a part of the world, is also a
part of god. Yet we see that vast portions of the
earth's surface are uninhabitable deserts, being
either scorched by the sun's proximity, or frost-bound
and covered ^Wth snow owing to its extreme remote-
ness. But if the world is god, these, being parts of the
27
CICERO
membra partim ardentia partim refrigerata dicenda
sunt.
25 " Atque haec quidem vestra, Lucili ; qualia vero
* * est,^ ab ultimo repetam superiorum. Thales enim
Milesius, qui primus de taUbus rebus quaesivit,
aquam dixit esse initium rerum, deum eam mentem
quae ex aqua cuncta fingeret — si' di possunt esse
sine sensu ; et mentem^ cur aquae adiunxit, si ipsa
mens constare potest vacans corpore ? Anaximandri
autem opinio est nativos esse deos longis intervalHs
orientis occidentisque, eosque innumerabilis esse
mundos. Sed nos deum nisi sempiternum intellegere
26 qui possumus ? Post Anaximenes aera deum statuit,
eumque gigni esseque inmensum et infinitum et
semper in motu : quasi aut aer sine ulla forma deus
esse possit, cum praesertim deum non modo aliqua
sed pulcherrima specie deceat esse, aut non omne
quod ortum sit mortahtas consequatur. XI. Inde
Anaxagoras, qui accepit ab Anaximene discipUnam,
primus omnium rerum discriptionem et modum men-
tis infinitae vi ac ratione dissignari et confici voluit ;
in quo non vidit neque motum sensui iunctum et
continentem in infinito* ullum esse posse, neque
sensum omnino quo non ipsa natura pulsa sentiret.
Deinde si mentem istam quasi animal ahquod voluit
esse, erit aHquid interius ex quo illud animal nomine-
* quaUa uero aha sint B corr. • sed veri simile est aliqua
verha excidisse. * si det.y sic A^ B.
^ mentem B, mente cett. ; post mente lacunam edd,
* incontinentem infinito A^ B,
£8
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. x.— xi.
world, must be regarded as limbs of god, undergoing
the extremes of heat and cold respectively.
25 " So much, LuciHus, for the doctrines of your Theoiogy of
school. To show what <the older systems> are Hke, schoois
I will trace their history from the remotest of your flp^
predccessors. Thales of Miletus, who was the iirst downward
person to investigate these matters, said that water refuted.
was the first principle of things, but that god was
the mind that moulded all things out of water —
supposing that gods can exist without sensation ;
and why did he make mind an adjunct of water, if
mind can exist by itself, devoid of body } The view
of Anaximander is that the gods are not everlasting
but are born and perish at long intervals of time,
and that they are worlds, countless in number. But
how can we conceive of god save as Uving for ever ?
26 Next, Anaximenes held that air is god, and that it has
a beginning in time, and is immeasurable and infinite
in extent, and is always in motion ; just as if fonnless
air could be god, especially seeing that it is proper to
god to possess not merely some shape but the most
beautiful shape ; or as if anything that has had a
beginning must not necessarily be mortal. XI. Then
there is Anaxagoras, the successor of Anaximenes ;
he was the first thinker to hold that the orderly dis-
position of the universe is designed and perfected by
the rational power of an infinite mind. But in saying
this he failed to see that there can be no such thing
as sentient and continuous activity in that which is
infinite, and that sensation in general can only occur
when the subject itself becomes sentient by the
impact of a sensation. Further, if he intended his
infinite mind to be a definite Uving creature, it must
have some inner principle of Ufe to justify the name.
29
CICERO
tur ; quid autem interius mente ? cingetur^ igitur
27 corpore externo ; quod quoniam non placet, aperta
simplexque mens, nulla re adiuncta qua^ sentire
possit, fugere intellegentiae nostrae \dm et notionem
videtur. Crotoniates autem Alcmaeo, qui soli et
lunae reliquisque sideribus animoque praeterea divini-
tatem dedit, non sensit sese mortalibus rebus in-
mortalitatem dare. Nam Pythagoras, qui censuit
animum esse per naturam rerum omnem intentum et
commeantem ex quo nostri animi carperentur, non
vidit distractione humanorum animorum discerpi et
lacerari deum, et cum miseri animi essent, quod
plerisque contingeret, tum dei partem esse miseram,
28 quod fieri non potest. Cur autem quicquam ignoraret
animus hominis, si esset deus ? quo modo porro deus
iste, si nihil esset nisi animus, aut infixus aut infusus
esset in mundo ? Tum Xenophanes, qui mente
adiuncta omne propterea^ quod esset infinitum deum
voluit esse,de ipsa mente itemreprehenditurut ceteri,
de infinitate autem vehementius, in qua nihil neque
sentiensneque coniunctumpotestesse. NamParmeni-
des quidem commenticium quiddam* coronae simile
efficit ((TT€(j)di'r]v appellat), continentem ardorum^ lucis
orbem qui cingit® caelum, quem appellat deum ; in
quo neque figuram divinam neque sensum quisquam
suspicari potest, multaque eiusdem monstra, quippe
qui bellum, qui discordiam, qui cupiditatem ceteraque
generis eiusdem ad deum revocet, quae vel morbo
^ cingetur Jst : cingatur.
* qua St. Avgustine : quae.
' propterea Reid : praeterea.
• larn P. quiddam commenticium ? ed,
^ ardorum pr. B : ardorem.
* cingat Ernesti.
80
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xi.
But mind is itself the innermost principle. Mind
therefore will have an outer integument of body.
27 But this Anaxagoras will not allow ; yet mind naked
and simple, without any material adjunct to serve
as an organ of sensation, seems to elude the capacity
of our understanding. Alcmaeon of Croton, who
attributed divinity to the sun, moon and other
heavenly bodies, and also to the soul, did not perceive
that he was besto^ving immortahty on things that
are mortal. As for Pythagoras, who believed that
the entire substance of the universe is penetrated
and pervaded by a soul of which our souls are frag-
ments, he failed to notice that this severance of the
souls of men from the world-soul means the dis-
memberment and rending asunder of god; and that
when their souls areunhappy,as happens to most men,
then a portion of god is unhappy ; which is impossible.
28 Again, if the soul of man is divine, why is it not
omniscient ? Moreover, if the Pythagorean god is
pure soul, how is he implanted in, or diffused through-
out, the world? Next, Xenophanes endowed the uni-
verse with mind, and held that, as being infinite, it
was god. His view of mind is as open to objection
as that of the rest ; but on the subject of infinity
he incurs still severer criticism, for the infinite can
have no sensation and no contact with anything
outside. As for Parmenides, he invents a purely
fanciful something resembhng a crown — stephane
is his name for it — , an unbroken ring of glowing hghts,
encirchng the sky, which he entitles god ; but no
one can imagine this to possess divine form, or
sensation. He also has many other portentous
notions ; he deifies war, strife, lust and the hke, things
which can be destroyed by disease or sleep or forget-
31
CICERO
vel somno vel oblivione vel vetustate delentur ;
eademque de sideribus, quae reprehensa in alio iam
29 in hoc omittantur. XII. Empedocles autem multa
alia peccans in deorum opinione turpissume labitur.
Quattuor enim naturas ex quibus omnia constare
censet divinas esse vult ; quas et nasci et extingui
perspicuum est et sensu omni carere. Nec vero
Protagoras, qui sese negat omnino de deis habere
quod liqueat, sint non sint qualesve sint, quicquam
videtur de natura deorum suspicari. Quid ? Demo-
critus, qui tum imagines earumque circumitus in
deorum numerum^ refert, tum illam naturam quae
imagines fundat ac mittat, tum scientiam- intelle-
gentiamque nostram, nonne in maximo errore ver-
satur } cum idem omnino, quia nihil semper suo
statu maneat, negat^ esse quicquam sempiternum,
nonne deum omnino ita tolUt ut nuUam opinionem
eius reUquam faciat ? Quid ? aer, quo Diogenes
ApoUoniates utitur deo, quem sensum habere potest
30 aut quam formam dei ? lam de Platonis incon-
stantia longum est dicere, qui in Timaeo patrera huius
mundi nominari neget posse, in Legum autem Ubris,
quid sit omnino deus anquiri oportere non censeat.
Quod* vero sine corpore uUo deum vult esse (ut
Graeci dicunt do-oj/xaroi'), id quale esse possit inteUegi
non potest : careat enim sensu necesse est, careat
etiam prudentia, careat voluptate ; quae omnia una
* numerum Lambinus : numero.
* scientiam dett. : sententiam sensum ; ci. Plasherg.
' negat pr. B : neget.
* Quod . . . comprehendimus infra post Idem . . . re-
pugnantia transponenda Mayor.
' See infra, § 120 n.
* Timaeus 28 o. « Laws vii. 821.
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xi.— xii.
fulness or lapse of time; and he also deifies the stars,
but this has been criticized in another philosopher
and need not be dealt with now in the case of
29 Parmenides. XII. Empedocles again among many
other blunders comes to grief most disgracefuUy in
his theology. He assigns divinity to the four sub-
stances which in his system are the constituent
elements of the universe, althouo-h manifestly these
substances both come into and pass out of existence,
and are entirely devoid of sensation. Protagoras also,
who declares he has no clear views whatever about the
gods, whether they exist or do not exist, or what
they are hke, seems to have no notion at all of the
divine nature. Then in what a maze of error is
Democritus " involved, who at one moment ranks as
gods his roving ' images,' at another the substance
that emits and radiates these images, and at another
again the scientific intelligence of man ! At the same
time his denial of immutabihty, and therefore of
eternity, to everything whatsoever surely involves a
repudiation of deity so absolute as to leave no con-
ception of a divine being remaining ! Diogenes of
Apollonia makes air a god ; but how can air
30 have sensation, or di\"inity in any shape ? The in-
consistencies of Plato are a long story. In the
Timaeus ^ he says that it is impossible to name the
father of this universe ; and in the Lajvs ^ he depre-
cates all inquiry into the nature of the deity.
Again,^ he holds that god is entirely incorporeal
(in Greek, asomatos) ; but divine incorporeity is
inconceivable, for an incorporeal deity would
necessarily be incapable of sensation, and also
of practical wisdom, and of pleasure, all of which
* This sentence should probably foilow :he next one.
33
CICERO
cum deorum notione comprehendimus. Idem et in
Timaeo dicit et in Legibus et mundum deum esse
et caelum et astra et terram et animos et eos quos
maiorum institutis accepimus ; quae et per se sunt
falsa perspicue et inter se vehementer repugnantia.
31 Atque etiam Xenophon paucioribus verbis eadem
fere peccat ; facit enim in iis quae a Socrate dicta
rettuHt Socratem disputantem formam dei quaeri
non oportere, eundemque et solem et animum deum
dicere, et modo unum tum autem plures deos ;
quae sunt isdem in erratis fere quibus ea quae de
32 Platone diximus. XIII. Atque etiam Antisthenes
in eo hbro qui Physicus inscribitur popularis deos
multos naturalem unum esse dicens tolht vim et
naturam deorum. Nec multo secus Speusippus
Platonem avunculum subsequens et vim quandam
dicens qua omnia regantur, eamque animalem, evel-
33 lere ex animis conatur cognitionem deorum. Aristo-
telesque in tertio de philosophia hbro multa turbat
a magistro suo^ Platone <non>2 dissentiens ; modo
enim menti tribuit omnem divinitatem, modo mun-
dum ipsum deum dicit esse, modo ahum quendam
praeficit mundo eique eas partis tribuit ut rephca-
tione quadam mundi motum regat atque tueatur,
1 suo dett. : uno y/, B. ^ Manutius.
" The Memorahilia.
* One of the popular treatises of Aristotle not now extant,
quotcd i. 107, ii. 37, 42, 44, 51, 95.
« The insertion of the ncgative is a probable emcnda-
tion, since the identification of the Peripatetic doctrines with
84.
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xii.— xiii.
are attributes essential to our conception of deit}\
Yet both in the Timaeus and the Laws he says that
the world, the sky, the stars, the earth and our
souls are gods, in addition to those in whom
we have been taught to believe by ancestral
tradition ; but it is obvious that these propositions
are both inherently false and mutually destructive.
11 Xenophon also commits almost the same errors,
though in fewer words ; for in his memoir" of the
sayings of Socrates he represents Socrates as arguing
that it is wrong to inquire about the form of god,
but also as saying that both the sun and the soul are
god, and as speaking at one moment of a single god
and at another of several : utterances that involve
almost the same mistakes as do those which we
}2 quoted from Plato. XIII. Antisthenes also, in his
book entitled The Natural Philosopker, says that while
there are many gods of popular behef, there is one
god in nature, so depriving divinity of all meaning
or substance. Very similarly Speusippus, foUowing
his uncle Plato, and speaking of a certain force that
governs all things and is endowed with life, does his
best to root out the notion of deity from our minds
13 altogether. And Aristotle in the Third IBook of his
Philosophy ^ has a great many confused notions, <not><'
disagreeing with the doctrines of his master Plato ;
at one moment he assigns divinity exclusively to the
intellect, at another he says that the world is itself a
god, then again he puts some other being over the
world, and assigns to this being the role of regulating
and sustaining the world-motion by means of a sort
those of Plato was made by Antiochus, and is often pro-
pounded by Cicero (Mayor) ; although it is true that it Ls
not appropriate to the Epicurean speaker here (Plasberg).
S5
CICERO
tum caeli ardorem deum dicit esse, non intellegens
caelum mundi esse partem quem alio loco ipse
designarit deum. Quo modo autem caeli divinus ille
sensus in celeritate tanta conservari potest ? ubi
deinde illi tot di, si numeramus etiam caelum deum ?
cum autem sine corpore idem vult esse deum, omni
illum sensu privat, <privat>^ etiam prudentia. Quo
porro modo [mundus]^ moveri carens corpore, aut
quo modo semper se movens esse quietus et beatus
34 potest ? Nec vero eius condiscipulus Xenocrates in
hoc genere prudentior, cuius in libris qui sunt de
natura deorum nuUa species divina describitur ; deos
enim octo esse dicit, quinque eos qui in stellis vagis
moventur,^ unum qui ex omnibus sideribus quae infixa
caelo sunt ex dispersis quasi membris simplex sit
putandus deus, septimum solem adiungit octavamque
lunam ; qui quo sensu beati esse possint, intellegi
non potest. Ex eadem Platonis schola Ponticus
HeracHdes pueriUbus fabidis refersit hbros et [tamen]
modo^ mundum, tum mentem divinam esse putat,
errantibus etiam stelHs divinitatem tribuit, sensuque
deum privat et eius formam mutabilem esse vult,
eodemque in Ubro rursus terram et caelum refert in
35 deos. Nec vero Theophrasti inconstantia ferenda
est ; modo enim menti divinum tribuit principatum,
modo caelo, tum autem signis sideribusque caelesti-
^ ci. Plasherg. ^ Heindorf.
^ moventur Reid : nominantur.
* [tamen] modo edd. : tum modo, tum dett. : modo
mundum, tum autem Diecklioff.
*• Aristotle explained the apparently irregular motions of
the planets by ascribing to them distinct spheres rotating in
opposite directions; the counter-rotation was aveLXt^ts, of
36
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xiii.
of inverse rotation " ; then he says that the celestial
heat'' is god — not reahzing that the heavens are a
part of that world which elsewhere he himself has
entitled god. But how could the divine consciousness
which he assigns to the heavens persist in a state of
such rapid motion ? Where moreover are all the gods
of accepted beUef, if we count the heavens also as a
god ? Again, in maintaining that god is incorporeal,
he robs him entirely of sensation, and also of wisdom.
Moreover, how is motion possible for an incorporeal
being, and how, if he is always in motion, can he
H enjoy tranquilhty and bUss ? Nor was his feUow-pupil
Xenocrates any wiser on this subject. His volumes
On the Nature of the Gods give no inteUigible account
of the divine form ; for he states that there are eight
gods : five inhabiting the planets, and in a state of
motion ; one consisting of aU the fixed stars, which
are to be regarded as separate members constituting
a single deity ; seventh he adds the sun, and eighth
the moon. But what sensation of bUss these beings
can enjoy it is impossible to conceive. Another mem-
ber of the school of Plato, HeracUdes of Pontus, fiUed
volume after volume with childish fictions ; at one
moment he deems the world divine, at another the
inteUect ; he also assigns divinity to the planets, and
holds that the deity is devoid of sensation and
mutable of form ; and again in the same volume he
35 reckons earth and sky as gods. Theophrastus also is
intolerably inconsistent ; at one moment he assigns
divine pre-eminence to mind, at another to the
heavens, and then again to the constellations and stars
which replicatio here is perhaps a translation, although how
it could be assigned to the universe is obscure.
* Ihe aether.
S7
CICERO
bus. Nec audiendus eius auditor Strato, is qul
physicus appellatur, qui omnem vim divinam in
natura sitam esse censet, quae causas gignendi
augendi minuendi habeat sed careat omni et sensu
et figura.
36 XIV. " Zeno autem, ut iam ad vestros, Balbe,
veniam, naturalem legem di^inam esse censet, eam-
que vim obtinere recta imperantem prohibentem-
que contraria. Quam legem quo modo efficiat
animantem intellegere non possumus ; deum autem
animantem certe volumus esse. Atque hic idem aHo
loco aethera deum dicit — si intellegi potest nihil
sentiens deus, qui numquam nobis occurrit neque in
precibus neque in optatis neque in votis ; ahis autem
hbris rationem quandam per omnem^ naturam rerum
pertinentem vi divina esse adfectam putat. Idem
astris hoc idem tribuit, tum annis mensibus annorum-
que mutationibus. Cum vero Hesiodi Theogom'am,
id est originem deorum, interpretatur, tolht omnino
usitatas perceptasque cognitiones deorum ; neque
enim lovem neque lunonem neque Vestam neque
quemquam qui ita appellatur^ in deorum habet
numero, sed rebus inanimis atque mutis per quandam
37 significationem haec docet tributa nomina. Cuius
discipuh Aristonis non minus magno in errore sen-
tentia est, qui neque formam dei intellegi posse
censeat neque in deis sensum esse dicat, dubitetque
omnino deus animans necne sit. Cleanthes autem,
qui Zenonem audivit una cum eo quem proxime
nominavi, tum ipsum mundum deum dicit esse, tum
1 omnem dett. : omnium.
2 appellatur dett. : appelletur.
• Cf. M. AureUus v. 32 6 StA ttjj/ ovalav diifKuv \&yos,
S8
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xiii.— xiv.
in the heavens. Nor is his pupil, Strato, surnamed
the Natural Philosopher, worthy of attention ; in his
view the sole repository of divine power is nature,
which contains in itself the causes of birth, growth and
decay, but is entirely devoid of sensation and of form.
I XIV. " Lastly, Balbus, I come to your Stoic school.
Zeno's view is that the law of nature is divine, and
that its function is to command what is right and to
forbid the opposite. How he makes out this law to
be aHve passes our comprehension ; yet we un-
doubtedly expect god to be a Hving being. In
another passage however Zeno declares that the
aether is god — if there is any meaning in a god
without sensation, a form of deity that never presents
itself to us when we offer up our prayers and sup-
pHcations and make our vows. And in other books
again he holds the view that a * reason ' which per-
vades aD nature " is possessed of divine power. He
Hke^\ise attributes the same powers to the stars, or
at another time to the years, the months and the
seasons. Again, in his interpretation of Hesiod's
Theogony (or Origin of the Gods) he does away with
the customary and received ideas of the gods alto-
gether, for he does not reckon either Jupiter, Juno
or Vesta as gods, or any being that bears a personal
name, but teaches that these names have been
assigned aHegoricaHy to dumb and Hfeless things.
1 Zeno's pupil Aristo holds equally mistaken views.
He thinks that the form of the deity cannot be com-
prehended, and he denies the gods sensation, and
in fact is uncertain whether god is a Hving being at
all. Cleanthes, who attended Zeno's lectures at the
same time as the last-named, at one moment says
that the world itself is god, at another gives tliis
39
CICERO
totius naturae menti atque animo tribuit hoc nomen,
tum ultimum et altissimum atque undique circum-
fusum et extremum omnia cingentem atque con-
plexum ardorem, qui aether nominetur, certissimum
deum iudicat ; idemque quasi dehrans, in iis Ubris
quos scripsit contra voluptatem, tum fingit formam
quandam et speciem deorum, tum divinitatem om-
nem tribuit astris, tum nihil ratione censet esse
di\dnius. Ita fit ut deus ille quem mente noscimus
atque in animi notione tamquam in vestigio volumus
38 reponerenusquam prorsus appareat. XV. At Persaeus
eiusdem Zenonis auditor eos esse^ habitos deos a
quibus ahqua magna utiUtas ad vitae cultum esset
inventa, ipsasque res utiles et salutares deorum esse
vocabuhs nuncupatas, ut ne hoc quidemdiceret,illa in-
venta esse deorum, sed ipsa divina ; quo quid absurdius
quam aut res sordidas atque deformis deorum honore
adficere aut homines iam morte deletos reponere in
deos, quorum omnis cultus esset futurus in luctu ?
39 lam vero Chrysippus, qui Stoicorum somniorum
vaferrumus habetur interpres, magnam turbam con-
gregat ignotorum deorum, atque ita ignotorum ut
eos ne coniectura quidem informare possimus, cum
mens nostra quidvis videatur cogitatione posse
depingere, ait enim vim divinam in ratione esse
positam et in universae naturae animo atque mente,
ipsumque mundum deum dicit esse et eius animi
fusionem universam, tum eius ipsius principatum qui
in mente et ratione versetur, communemque rerum
» eos dicit esse det,
40
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xiv.— xv.
name to the mind and soul of the miiverse, and at
another decides that the most unquestionable deity
is that remote all-surrounding fiery atmosphere called
the aether, which encircles and embraces the universe
on its outer side at an exceedingly lofty altitude ;
while in the books that he wrote to combat hedonism
he babbles Hke one demented, now imagining gods
of some definite shape and form, now assigning
full divinity to the stars, now pronouncing that
nothing is more di^-ine than reason. The result is
that the god whom we apprehend by our intelhgence,
and desire to make to correspond with a mental
concept as a seal taUies ^\ith its impression, has
38 utterly and entirely vanished. XV. Persaeus, another
pupil of Zeno, says that men have deified those per-
sons who have made some discovery of special utility
for civlhzation, and that useful and health-gi\ing
things have themselves been called by divine names ;
he did not even say that they were discoveries of
the gods, but speaks of them as actually divine. But
what could be more ridiculous than to award diviiie
honours to things mean and ugly, or to give the rank
of gods to men now dead and gone, whose worship
B9 could only take the form of lamentation ? Chrysippus,
who is deemed to be the most skilful interpreter of
the Stoic dreams, musters an enormous mob of un-
known gods — so utterly unknown that even imagina-
tion cannot guess at their form and nature, although
our mind appears capable of visuahzing anything ;
for he says that divine power resides in reason, and
in the soul and mind of the universe ; he calls the
world itself a god, and also the all-pervading world-
soul, and again the guiding principle of that soul,
which operates in the intellect and reason, and
41
CICERO
naturam [universam] atque^ omnia continentem,
tum fatalem vim^ et necessitatem rerum futurarum,
ignem praeterea [et]^ eum quem ante dixi aethera,
timi ea quae natura fluerent atque manarent, ut* et
aquam et terram et aera. solem lunam sidera uni-
tatemque^ rerum qua omnia continerentur, atque
etiam homines eos qui inmortahtatem essent con-
40 secuti. Idemque disputat aethera esse eum quem
homines lovem appellarent, quique aer per maria
manaret eum esse Xeptunum, terramque eam esse
quae Ceres diceretur, simihque ratione persequitur
vocabula rehquorum deorum. Idemque® etiam legis
perpetuae et aeternae vim, quae quasi dux vitae et
magistra officiorum sit, lovem dicit esse, eandemque
fatalem necessitatem appellat <et>' sempiternam
rerum futurarum veritatem ; quorum nihil tale est ut
41 in eo \as divina inesse videatur. Et haec quidem in
primo hbro de natura deorum ; in secundo autem volt
Orphei Musaei Hesiodi Homerique fabellas accom-
modare ad ea quae ipse primo hbro de deis inmortaH-
bus dixerat,^ ut etiam veterrimi poetae, qui haec ne
suspicati quidem sint,^ Stoici fuisse videantur. Quem
Diogenes Babylonius consequens in eo hbro qui
inscribitur de Minervapartum lovis ortumque virginis
ad physiologiam traducens diiungit a fabula.
42 XVI. " Exposui fere non philosophorum iudicia sed
dehrantium somnia. Nec enim multo absurdiora sunt
ea quae poetarum vocibus fusa ipsa suavitate nocue-
runt, qui et ira inflammatos et hbidine furentis
^ [universam] atque Pearson : universitatemque Heindorf.
2 vim det. : orbem ; umbram von Arnim,following be-et mss.
3 secl. Bouhier. * ut <aethera> ci. Plasberg.
^ unitatemque Pearson : universitatemque.
• eundemque Rohy. ' add. Bouhier.
8 dixerit A, B : dixit Nobbe. » sunt dett.
42
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xv.— xvi.
the common and all-embracing nature of things ;
and also the power of Fate, and the Necessity that
governs future events ; beside this, the fire that I
previously termed aether ; and also all fluid and
soluble substances, such as water, earth, air, the
sun, moon and stars, and the all-embracing unity
of things ; and even those human beings who have
40 attained immortahty. He also argues that the
god whom men call Jupiter is the aether, and that
Neptune is the air which permeates the sea, and the
goddess called Ceres the earth ; and he deals in the
same way with the whole series of the names of the
other gods. He also identifies Jupiter with the mighty
Law, everlasting and etemal, which is our guide of
hfe and instructress in duty, and which he entitles
Necessity or Fate, and the Everlasting Truth of future
events ; none of which conceptions is of such a
41 nature as to be deemed to possess divinity. This is
what is contained in his Nature of the Gods, Book I.
In Book n. he aims at reconcihng the myths of
Orpheus, Musaeus, Hesiod and Homer with his o-vvn
theology as enunciated in Book I., and so makes
out that even the earJiest poets of antiquity, who
had no notion of these doctrines, were really Stoics.
In this he is followed by Diogenes of Babylon, who
in his book entitled Minerva rationahzes the myth of
the birth of the virgin goddess from Jove by ex-
plaining it as an allegory of the processcs of nature.
42 XVI. " I have given a rough account of what are Tiieologyof
more hke the dreams of madmen than the considered ^°^^^. ^"^,
• • ^ 1 .1 1 -r> 1 T 1 1 ofonental
opimons oi philosophers. ror they are httle iess reiigion
absurd than the outpourings of the poets, harmful ^^°"^-
as these have been owing to the mere charm of their
style. The poets have represented the gods as in-
43
CICERO
induxerunt deos feceruntque ut eorum bella proelia
pugnas vulnera videremus, odia praeterea discidia
discordias, ortus interitus, querellas lamentationes,
effusas in omni intemperantia^ libidines, adulteria,
\Tincula, cum humano genere concubitus mortalisque
43 ex inmortali procreatos. Cum poetarum autem
errore coniungere licet portenta magoriun Aegyptio-
rumque in eodem genere dementiam, tum etiam
vulgi opiniones, quae in maxima inconstantia veritatis
ignoratione versantur.
" Ea qui consideret quam inconsulte ac temere
dicantur, venerari Epicurum et in eorum ipsorum
numero de quibus haec quaestio est habere debeat.
Solus enim \-idit primum esse deos, quod in omnium
animis eorum notionem inpressisset ipsa natura.
Quae est enim gens aut quod genus hominum, quod
non habeat sine doctrina anticipationem quandam
deorum ? quam appellat TrfjoXrj^piv Epicurus, id est
anteceptam animo rei quandam informationem, sine
qua nec intellegi quicquam nec quaeri nec disputari
possit.2 Cuius rationis vim atque utilitatem ex illo
caelesti Epicuri de regula et iudicio volumine accepi-
44 mus. XVII. Quod igitur fundamentum huius quaes-
tionis est, id praeclare iactum videtis. Cum enim
non instituto aliquo aut more aut lege sit opinio
constituta maneatque ad unum omnium firma con-
sensio, intellegi necesse est esse deos, quoniam insitas
eorum vel potius innatas cognitiones habemus ; de
quo autem omnium natura consentit, id verum esse
* omnem intemperantiam ? ed.
2 possit dett. : potest A^ B.
• C/. Lucr. V. 8 "deus ille fuit, deus, inclute Memmi.*'
^ Diog. L. X. 27 U.€pl KpLTTjpiov Tj Kavdiv,
44
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xvi.— x\ii.
flamed by anger and maddened by lust, and have
displayed to our gaze their wars and battles, their
fights and wounds, their hatreds, enmities and quar-
rels, their births and deaths, their complaints and
lamentations, the utter and unbridled hcence of their
passions, their adulteries and imprisonments, their
unions with human beings and the birth of mortal
3 progeny from an immortal parent. With the errors
of the poets may be classed the monstrous doctrines
of the magi and the insane mythology of Egypt, and
also the popular behefs, which are a mere mass of
inconsistencies sprung from ignorance.
" Anyone pondering on the baseless and irrational Exposition
character of these doctrines ought to regard Epicurus tifo^o^Ly^^^
with reverence, and to rank him as one of the very Universai
gods about whom v>e are inquiring.'* For he alone per- suffldent
ceivedjfirstjthat the gods exist,because nature herself proof of the
has imprinted a conception of them on the minds of ence, and '
all mankind. For what nation or what tribe of men ?f their
1 , . , immortality
is there but possesses untaught some preconception and biiss.
of the gods .'' Such notions Epicurus designates by
the word prolepsis, that is, a sort of preconceived
mental picture of a thing, without which nothing
can be understood or investigated or discussed. The
force and value of this argument we learn in that
work of genius, Epicurus's Rule or Standard of Judge-
4 ment.^ X\TL You see therefore that the foundation
(for such it is) of our inquiry has been well and truly
laid. For the behef in the gods has not been estab-
Ushed by authority, custom or law, but rests on the
unanimous and abiding consensus of mankind ; their
existence is therefore a necessary inference, since we
possess an instinctive or rather an innate concept of
them ; but a beUef which all men by nature share
45
CICERO
necesse est ; esse igitur deos confitendum est. Quod
quoniam fere constat inter omnis non philosophos
solum sed etiam indoctos, fateamur constare illud
etiam, hanc nos habere sive anticipationem ut ante
dixi sive praenotionem deorum (sunt enim rebus
novis nova ponendanomina, ut Epicurus ipse TrpoXrjij/LV
appellavit, quam antea nemo eo verbo nominarat) —
45 hanc igitur habemus, ut deos beatos et inmortales
putemus. Quae enim nobis natura informationem
ipsorum deorum dedit, eadem insculpsit in mentibus
ut eos aeternos et beatos haberemus. Quod si ita
est, vere exposita illa sententia est ab Epicuro, quod
beatum aeternumque sit id nec habere ipsum negotii
quicquam nec exhibere alteri, itaque neque ira neque
gratia teneri quod quae talia essent imbecilla essent
omnia.
** Si nihil ahud quaereremus nisi ut deos pie
coleremus et ut superstitione hberaremur, satis erat
dictum ; nam et praestans deorum natura hominum
pietate coleretur, cum et aeterna esset et beatissima
(habet enim venerationem iustam quicquid excellit),
et metus omnis a vi atque ira deorum pulsus esset
(intellegitur enim a beata inmortalique natura et
iram et gratiam segregari, quibus remotis nullos a
superis impendere metus). Sed ad hanc confirman-
• Diog. L. X. 139 t6 fj.aK6.piov koI &<p6apTou o{jt€ avTb vpdy'
fiaTa e^et o(jt€ d\X(f) irapex^'; G}(TT€ oOre dpyals oCtc x^P'-'^'- <'"'""
^^^■'■a.t' iv aoOevd yap irav Tb toiovtov.
4Jb
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xvii.
must necessarily be true ; therefore it must be
admitted that the gods exist. And since this truth
is almost universally accepted not only among phil-
osophers but also among the unlearned, we must
admit it as also being an accepted truth that we
possess a ' preconception,' as I called it above, or
* prior notion,' of the gods. (For we are bound to
employ novel terms to denote novel ideas, just as
Epicurus himself employed the word prolepsis in a
45 sense in which no one had ever used it before.) We
have then a preconception of such a nature that we
beUeve the gods to be blessed and immortal. For
nature, which bestowed upon us an idea of the
gods themselves, also engraved on our minds the
behef that they are eternal and blessed. If this
is so, the famous maxim ^ of Epicurus truthfully
enunciates that * that which is blessed and eternal
can neither know trouble itself nor cause trouble
to another, and accordingly cannot feel either anger
or favour, since all such things belong only to the
weak.'
" If we sought to attain nothing else beside piety such goda
in worshipping the gods and freedom from super- ^^^^'^
stition, what has been said had sufficed ; since the passion,
exalted nature of the gods, being both eternal and twshipped
supremely blessed, would receive man's pious worship f"' °°^
(for what is highest commands the reverence that is
its due) ; and furthermore all fear of the divine
power or divine anger would have been banished
(since it is understood that anger and favour ahke are
excluded from the nature of a being at once blessed
and immortal, and that these being ehminated we are
menaced by no fears in regard to the powers above).
But the mind strives to strengthen this beHef by
4,7
CICERO
dam opinionem anquirit animus et formara et vitae
actionem mentisque agitationem^ in deo.
46 X^^III. " Ac de forma quidem partim natura nos
admonet, partim ratio docet. Nam a natura habemus
omnes omnium gentium speciem nullam aliam nisi
humanam deorum ; quae enim forma alia occurrit
umquam aut \-igilanti cuiquam aut dormienti ? Sed
ne omnia revocentur ad primas notiones, ratio hoc
47 idem ipsa declarat. Nam cum praestantissumam
naturam, vel quia beata est vel quia sempiterna,
convenire videatur eandem esse pulcherrimam, quae
conpositio membrorum, quae conformatio Uniamen-
torum, quae figura, quae species humana potest esse
pulchrior ? Vos quidem, Lucih, soletis (nam Cotta
meus modo hoc modo illud), cum artificium effingitis
fabricamque divinam, quam sint omnia in hominis
figura non modo ad usum verum etiam ad venustatera
48 apta describere. Quodsi omnium animantium for-
mam vincit hominis figura, deus autem animans est,
ea figura profecto est quae pulcherrima est omnium,
quoniamque deos beatissimos esse constat, beatus
autem esse sine virtute nemo potest nec virtus sine
ratione constare nec ratio usquam inesse nisi in
hominis figura, hominis esse specie deos confitendum
49 est. Nec tamen ea species corpus est, sed quasi
corpus, nec habet sanguinem, sed quasi sanguinem.
XIX. " Haec quamquam et inventa sunt acutius et
dicta subtihus ab Epicuro, quam ut quivis ea possit
agnoscere, tamen fretus intellegentia vestra dissero
^ vitae . . . agitationem Beier : vitam et actionem mentis
atque agitationem mss, : vitam et actionem mentisque agita-
tionem Elvenich,
48
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xvii.— xix.
tiying to discover the form of god, the mode of his
activity, and the operation of his inteUigence.
46 X\'III. " For the divine form we have the hints ThegodB
of nature supplemented by the teachings of reason. they^are in
From nature all men of all races derive the notion of human
gods as having human shape and none other ; for in impercept-
what other shape do they ever appear to anyone, ggj^^
awake or asleep ? But not to make primar)- concepts
the sole test of all things, reason itself dehvers the
47 same pronouncement. For it seems appropriate that
the being who is the most exalted, whether by reason
of his happiness or of his eternity, should also be
the most beautiful ; but what disposition of the hmbs,
what cast of features, what shape or outhne can be
more beautiful than the human form ? You Stoics
at least, Lucihus, (for my friend Cotta says one thing
at one time and another at another) are wont to por-
tray the skill of the divine creator by enlarging on
the beauty as well as the utiUty of design displayed
48 in all parts of the human figure. But if the human
figure surpasses the fomi of all other U™g beings,
and god is a Uving being, god must possess the shape
which is the most beautiful of aU ; and since it is
agreed that the gods are supremely happy, and no
one can be happy without virtue, and virtue cannot
exist without reason, and reason is only found in the
human shape, it foUows that the gods possess the
49 form of man. Yet their form is not corporeal, but
only resembles bodily substance ; it does not contain
blood, but the semblance of blood.
XIX. " These discoveries of Epicurus are so acute
in themselves and so subtly expressed that not every-
one would be capable of appreciating them. StiU I
may rely on your inteUigence, and make my exposi-
49
CICERO
brevius quam causa desiderat. Epicurus autem, qui
res occultas et penitus abditas non modo videat
animo sed etiam sic tractet ut manu, docet eam esse
vim et naturam deorum ut primum non sensu sed
mente cernantur,^ nec soliditate quadam nec ad
numerum, ut ea quae ille propter firmitatem o-Te/ac/xvia
appellat, sed imaginibus similitudine et transitione
perceptis, cum infinita simillumarum imaginum series^
ex innumerabilibus individuis existat et ad deos'
adfluat, cum maximis voluptatibus in eas imagines
mentem intentam infixamque nostram intellegentiam
60 capere quae sit et beata natura et aeterna. Summa
vero vis infinitatis et magna ac diligenti contem-
platione dignissima est, in qua intellegi necesse est
eam esse naturam ut omnia omnibus paribus paria
respondeant. Hanc lcrovofxLav appellat Epicurus, id
est aequabilem tributionem. Ex hac igitur illud
efficitur, si mortalium tanta multitudo sit, esse
inmortalium non minorem, et si quae interimant
innumerabilia sint, etiam ea quae conservent infinita
esse debere.
" Et quaerere a nobis, Balbe, soletis, quae vita
61 deorum sit quaeque ab iis degatur aetas. Ea vide-
licet qua nihil beatius, nihil omnibus bonis aflfluentius
cogitari potest. Nihil enim agit, nulhs occupationibus
est inphcatus, nulla opera moHtur, sua sapientia et
^ cernantur B : cernatur.
* series Brieger : species.
■ ad eos B : a deo, ad nos, a diis ad nos edd,
• Probably to be altered into * streams to us from the gods.*
50
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xix.
tion briefer than the subject demands. Epicums
then, as he not merely discerns abstruse and recondite
things with his mind's eye, but handles them as
tangible reahties, teaches that the substance and
nature of the gods is such that, in the first place, it
is perceived not by the senses but by the mind, and
not materially or individually, hke the solid objects
which Epicurus in virtue of their substantiahty en-
titles steremnia ; but by our perceiving images owing
to their similarity and succession, because an endless
train of precisely similar images arises from the
innumerable atoms and streams towards the gods, <»
our mind with the keenest feehngs of pleasure fixes
its gaze on these images, and so attains an under-
standing of the nature of a being both blessed and
60 eternal. Moreover there is the supremely potent Divine
principle of infinity, which claims the closest and most p^ove?by*'
careful study ; we must understand that it has principie of
the foUowing property, that in the sum of things librhiin.'
everything has its exact match and counterpart.
This property is termed by Epicurus isonomia, or the
principle of unifomi distribution. From this prin-
ciple it follows that if the whole number of mortals
be so many, there must exist no less a number of
immortals, and if the causes of destruction are beyond
count, the causes of conservation also are bound to
be infinite.
" You Stoics are also fond of asking us, Balbus, what The divlna
is the mode of hfe of the gods and how they pass their di3tu?id
61 days. The answer is, their life is the happiest con- by creating
ceivable, and the one most bountifully furnished with directing
all good things. God is entirely inactive and free from ^hich^gcis
all ties of occupation ; he toils not neither does he by nature,
labour, but he takes delight in his own ^visdom and moJemeni *
51
CICERO
virtute gaudet, habet exploratum fore se semper cum
52 in maximis tum in aeternis voluptatibus. XX. Hunc
deum rite beatum dixerimus, vestrum vero laboriosis-
simum. Sive enim ipse mundus deus est, quid potest
esse minus quietum quam nullo puncto temporis
intermisso versari circum axem caeli admirabili
celeritate ? nisi quietum autem nihil beatum est ;
sive in [ipso]^ mundo deus inest aliquis qui regat,
qui gubernet, qui cursus astrorum mutationes tem-
porum rerum vicissitudines ordinesque conservet,^
terras et maria contemplans hominum commoda
vitasque tueatur, ne ille est inpHcatus molestis
63 negotiis et operosis ! Nos autem beatam vitam in
animi securitate et in omnium vacatione munerum
ponimus. Docuit enim nos idem qui cetera, natura
effectum esse mundum, nihil opus fuisse fabrica,
tamque eam rem esse facilem quam vos effici negatis
sine divina posse sollertia, ut innumerabihs natura
mundos effectura sit efficiat effecerit. Quod quia
quem ad modum natura efficere sine ahqua mente
possit non videtis, ut tragici poetae cum exphcare
argumenti exitum non potestis confugitis ad deum ;
54 cuius operam profecto non desideraretis si inmensam
et interminatam in omnis partis magnitudinem
regionum videretis, in quam se iniciens animus et
intendens ita late longeque peregrinatur ut nuham
tamen oram ultimi^ videat in qua possit insistere. In
^ Schomann.
2 conservet < et > Davies.
^ ultimam Davies.
* The deus ex machlna introducerl near the end of some
Greek tragedies, to cut the knot of the plot, was proverbial.
62
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xix.— xx.
virtue, and knows with absolute certainty that heoftheatoms
will always enjoy pleasures at once consummate and and^noJ^by
/52 everlasting. XX. This is the god whom we should fate.
call happy in the proper sense of the term ; your
Stoic god seems to us to be grievously overworked.
If the world itself is god, what can be less restful than
to revolve at incredible speed round the axis of the
heavens without a single moment of respite ? but
repose is an essential condition of happiness. If on
the other hand some god resides within the world as
its governor and pilot, maintaining the courses of the
stars, the changes of the seasons and all the ordered
process of creation, and keeping a watch on land and
sea to guard the interests and Uves of men, why, what
a bondage of irksome and laborious business is his !
63 We for our part deem happiness to consist in tran-
quilHty of mind and entire exemption from all duties.
For he who taught us all the rest has also taught U3
that the world was made by nature, without needing
an artificer to construct it, and that the act of crea-
tion, which according to you cannot be performed
without di^ine sldll, is so easy, that nature ^\ill
create, is creating and has created worlds without
number. You on the contrary cannot see how nature
can achieve all this without the aid of some intelli-
gence, and so, like the tragic poets, being unable to
bring the plot of your drama to a denouement, you
64 have recourse to a god " ; whose intervention you
assuredly would not require if you would but con-
template the measureless and boundless extent of
space that stretches in every direction, into which
when the mind projects and propels itself, it journeys
onward far and wide ^^ithout ever sighting any
margin or ultimate point where it can stop. Well
53
CICERO
hac igitur inmensitate latitudinum longitudinum
altitudinum infinita \as innumerabilium volitat ato-
morum, quae interiecto inani cohaerescunt tamen
inter se et aliae alias adprehendentes continuantur ;
ex quo efficiuntur eae rerum formae et figurae quas
vos effici posse sine folHbus et incudibus non putatis,
itaque inposuistis in cervicibus nostris sempiternum
dominum, quem dies et noctes timeremus : quis
enim non timeat omnia providentem et cogitantem
et animadvertentem et omnia ad se pertinere
65 putantem curiosum et plenum negotii deum ? Hinc
vobis extitit primum illa fatahs necessitas quam
elixapjxkv-qv dicitis, ut quicquid accidat id ex aeterna
veritate causarumque continuatione fluxisse dicatis.
Quanti autem haec philosophia aestimanda est cui
tamquam anicuhs, et iis quidem indoctis, fato fieri vi-
deantur omnis ? Sequitur iJ.avTiKrj vestra, quae Latine
divinatio dicitur, qua tanta inbueremur super-
stitione, si vos audire vellemus, ut haruspices, augures,
56 harioH, vates, coniectores nobis essent colendi. His
terroribus ab Epicuro soluti et in hbertatem vindicati
nec metuimus eos quos intellegimus nec sibi fingere
ullam molestiam nec alteri quaerere, et pie sancteque
cohmus naturam excellentem atque praestantem.
" Sed elatus studio vereor ne longior fuerim.
Erat autem difficile rem tantam tamque praeclaram
inchoatam rehnquere ; quamquam non tam dicendi
ratio mihi habenda fuit quam audiendi."
67 XXI. Tum Cotta comiter ut solebat : " Atqui,"
54
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xx.— xxi.
then, in this immensity of length and breadth and
height there flits an infinite quantity of atoms in-
numerable, which though separated by void yet
cohere together, and taking hold each of another form
unions wherefrom are created those shapes and forms
of things which you think cannot be created without
the aid of bellows and anvils, and so have saddled us
with an eternal master, whom day and night we are
to fear ; for who would not fear a prying busybody of a
god, who foresees and thinks of and notices all things,
5 and deems that everything is his concern ? An out-
come of this theology was first of all your doctrine of
Necessity or Fate, heimarmene, as you termed it, the
theory that every event is the result of an eternal
truth and an unbroken sequence of causation. But
what value can be assigned to a philosophy which
thinks that everything happens by fate ? it is a belief
for old women, and ignorant old women at that.
And next follows your doctrine of mantike, or Divina-
tion, which would so steep us in superstition, if we
consented to hsten to you, that we should be the
devotees of soothsayers, augurs, oracle-mongers,
6 seers and interpreters of dreams. But Epicurus has
set us free from superstitious terrors and dehvered us
out of capti\dty, so that we have no fear of beings
who, we know, create no trouble for themselves and
seek to cause none to others, while we worship \\\\h.
pious reverence the transcendent majesty of nature.
" But I fear that enthusiasm for my subject has
made me prolix. It was difficult however to leave
80 vast and splendid a theme unfinished, although
really it was not my business to be a speaker so
much as a Hstener."
7 XXI. Then Cotta took up the discussion. " Well,
55
CICERO
inquit, " Vellei, nisi tu aliquid dixisses, nihil sane ex
me quidem audire potuisses. Mihi enim non tam
facile in mentem venire solet quare verum sit aliquid
quam quare falsum ; idque cum saepe tum cum te
audirem paulo ante contigit. Roges me qualem
naturam deorum esse ducam, nihil fortasse respon-
deam ; quaeras putemne talem esse qualis modo a
te sit exposita, nihil dicam mihi videri minus. Sed
ante quam adgrediar ad ea quae a te disputata sunt,
68 de te ipso dicam quid sentiam. Saepe enim de [L.
Crasso]^ famihari illo tuo videor audisse cum te togatis
omnibus sine dubio anteferret,^ paucos tecum Epi-
cureos e Graecia compararet ; sed quod ab eo te
mirifice dihgi intellegebam, arbitrabar illum propter
benivolentiam uberius id dicere. Ego autem, etsi
vereor laudare praesentem, iudico tamen de re
obscura atque difficili a te dictum esse dilucide, neque
sententiis solum copiose sed verbis etiam ornatius
69 quam solent vestri. Zenonem, quem Philo noster
coryphaeum appellare Epicureorum solebat, cimi
Athenis essem audiebam frequenter, et quidem ipso
auctore Philone — credo ut faciUus iudicarem quam
illa bene refellerentur cum a principe Epicureorum
accepissem quem ad modum dicerentur. Non igitur
ille ut plerique, sed isto modo ut tu, distincte graviter
^ fL. Crasso] om. A : nomen Epkurei ctdusdam excidisse
suspicatur Mayor. ^ anteferret et dett.
" This name is inserted by some mss., but Crassus in JDe
oratore, iii. 77 f., is made to disclaim any special knowledge
of philosophy. Probably the nanie of some philosopher
resident in Velleius's house has been lost.
56
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xxi.
Velleius," he rejoined, with his usual suavity, " unless Epicarean
you had stated a case, you certainly would have had demo?5hed
no chance of hearing anything from me. I always ^J Cotta
find it much easier to think of arguments to prove '~^"
a thing false than to prove it true. This often
happens to me, and did so just now while I was
hstening to you. Ask me what I think that the
divine nature is hke, and very probably I shall make
no reply ; but inquire whether I beheve that it re-
sembles the description of it which you have just
given, and I shall say that nothing seems to me less
likely. But before proceeding to examine your argu-
58 ments, I v,n.\l give my opinion of yourself. I fancy He compu-
I have often heard that friend of yours [Lucius ™^"^
Crassus] ° declare that of all the Roman adherents of
Epicureanism he placed you unquestionably first,
and that few of those from Greece could be ranked
beside you ; but knowing his extraordinary esteem
for you, I imagined that he was speaking with the
partiahty of a friend. I myself however, though re-
luctant to praise you to your face, must nevertheless
pronounce that your exposition of an obscure and
difficult theme has been most illuminating, and not
only exhaustive in its treatment of the subject, but
also graced with a charm of style not common in
59 your school. ¥, hen at Athens, I frequently attended
the discourses of Zeno, whom our friend Philo used
to call the leader of the Epicurean choir ; in fact it
was Philo who suggested that I should go to him —
no doubt in order that I might be better able to
judge how completely the Epicurean doctrine may
be refuted when I had heard an exposition of it from
the head of the school. Now Zeno, unhke most
Epicureans, had a style as clear, cogent and elegant
57
CICERO
ornate. Sed quod in illo mihi usu saepe venit, idem
modo cum te audirem accidebat, ut moleste ferrem
tantum ingenium (bona venia me audies) in tam
leves, ne dicam in tam ineptas sententias incidisse.
60 Nec ego nunc ipse aliquid adferam melius. Ut enim
modo dixi, omnibus fere in rebus sed maxime in
physicis quid non sit citius quam quid sit dixerim.
XXII. Roges me quid aut quale sit deus, auctore
utar Simonide, de quo cum quaesivisset hoc idem
tyrannus Hiero, deliberandi sibi unum diem postu-
lavit ; cum idem ex eo postridie quaereret, biduum
petivit ; cum saepius dupHcaret numerum dierum
admiransque Hiero requireret cur ita faceret, ' Quia
quanto diutius considero,' inquit, * tanto mihi res
videtur obscurior.' Sed Simoniden arbitror (non
enim poeta solum suavis verum etiam ceteroqui doctus
sapiensque traditur) quia multa venirent in mentem
acuta atque subtiha, dubitantem quid eorum esset
61 verissimum desperasse omnem veritatem. Epicurus
vero tuus (nam cum illo malo disserere quam tecum)
quid dixit^ quod non modo philosophia dignum esset
sed mediocri prudentia ?
** Quaeritur primum in ea quaestione quae est de
natura deorum, sintne di necne sint. * Difficile est
negare.* Credo si in contione quaeratur, sed in huius
^ dixit {vel sit citm dett., pro esset) Lamhinus : dicit.
58
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xxi.— xxii.
as your o^vn. But what often occurred to me in his
case happened just now while I was Hstening to
you : I felt annoyed that talents so considerable
should have chanced to select (if you will forgive my
saying it) so trivial, not to say so stupid, a set of
60 doctrines. Not that I propose at the moment to
contribute something better of my own. As I said
just now, in almost all subjects, but especially in Cotta'»
natural philosophy, I am more ready to say wliat is be^crj^^^
not true than what is. XXII. Inquire of me as to notcon-
the being and nature of god, and I shall follow the ^^'^*^^^®*
example of Simonides, who having the same ques-
tion put to him by the great Hiero, requested a
day's grace for consideration ; next day, when Hiero
repeated the question, he asked for two days, and so
went on several times multiplying the number of
days by two ; and when Hiero in surprise asked
why he did so, he repHed, * Because the longer I
dehberate the more obscure the matter seems to me.'
But Simonides is recorded to have been not only a
charming poet but also a man of learning and wisdom
in other fields, and I suppose that so many acute
and subtle ideas came into his mind that he could
not decide which of them was truest, and therefore
61 despairedof truthaltogether. But as for your master
Epicurus (for I prefer to join issue with him rather
than wdth yourself), which of his utterances is, I do
not say worthy of philosophy, but compatible with
ordinary common sense ?
" In an inquiry as to the nature of the gods, the
first question that we ask is, do the gods exist or do
they not ? * It is difficult to deny their existence.'
No doubt it would be if the question were to be
asked in a pubHc assembly, but in private conversa-
5.9
CICERO
modi sermone et consessu facillimum. Itaque ego
ipse pontifex, qui caerimonias religionesque publicas
sanctissime tuendas arbitror, is hoc quod primum
est, esse deos, persuaderi mihi non opinione solum sed
etiam ad veritatem plane velim. Multa enim occur-
runt quae contm^bent, ut interdum nulh esse videan-
32 tur. Sed vide quam tecum agam Hberahter : quae
communia sunt vobis cum ceteris philosophis non
attingam, ut hoc ipsum ; placet enim omnibus fere
mihique ipsi in primis deos esse, itaque non pugno.
Rationem tamen eam quae a te adfertur non satis
firmam puto. XXIII. Quod enim omnium gentium
generumque hominibus ita videretur, id satis magnum
argumentum esse dixisti cur esse deos confiteremur.
Quod cum leve per se tum etiam falsum est. Primum
enim unde tibi notae sunt opiniones nationum ? Equi-
dem arbitror multas esse gentes sic imnanitate effe-
63 ratas ut apud eas nulla suspicio deorum sit. Quid,
Diagoras, a$€os qui dictus est, posteaque Theodorus
nonne aperte deorum naturam sustulerunt } Nam Ab-
derites quidem Protagoras, cuius a te modo mentio
facta est, sophistes temporibus ilHs vel maximus, cum
in principio Hbri sic posuisset, * De divis, neque ut
sint neque ut non sint, habeo dicere,' Atheniensium
iussu urbe atque agro est exterminatus Hbrique eius
in contione combusti ; ex quo equidem existimo
• Cicero a])pears to mistranslate the Greek irepl ixh dewv
ovK ix'^ eiohaL oHd' wj eialv oiO' ws ovk eiaiv Diog. L. ix«
51 (' either thcU they exist or that they do not ').
60
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xxii.— xxiii.
tion and in a conipany like the prescnt it is perfectly
easy. This being so, I, who am a high priest, and
who hold it to be a duty most solemnly to maintain
the rights and doctrines of the estabhshed rehgion,
should be glad to be convinccd of this fundamental
tenet of the divine existence, not as an article of
faith merely but as an ascertained fact. For many
disturbing reflections occur to my mind, which some-
times make me think that there are no gods at all.
l But mark how generously I deal with you. I will
not attack those tenets which are shared by your
school with all other philosophers — for example the
one in question, since almost all men, and I myself
no less than any other, beUeve that the gods exist,
and this accordingly I do not challenge. At the
same time I doubt the adequacy of the argument
which you adduce to prove it. XXIII. You said that (i) Argu-
a sufficient reason for our admitting that the gods universai
exist was the fact that all the nations and races of conseut
mankind beheve it. But this argument is both in- unfoiinded
conclusive and untrue. In the first place, how do ^^ ^^°^
you know what foreign races believe ? For my part
I think that there are many nations so unciviHzed
and barbarous as to have no notion of any gods at
3 all. Again, did not Diagoras, called the Atheist,
and later Theodorus openly deny the divine exist-
ence ? Since as for Protagoras of Abdera, the greatest
sophist of that age, to whom you just now alluded,
for beginning a book Mith the words * About the
gods I am unable to affirm either how ° they exist or
how they do not exist,' he was sentenced by a decree
of the Athenian assembly to be banished from the
city and from the country, and to have his books
burnt in the market-place : an example that I can
^ 61
CICERO
tardiores ad hanc sententiam profitendam multos esse
factos, quippe cum poenam ne dubitatio quidem
effugere potuisset. Quid de sacrilegis, quid de impiis
periurisque dicemus ?
Tubulus si Lucius umquam,
si Lupus aut Carbo aut^ Neptuni filius,
ut ait Lucilius, putasset esse deos, tam periurus aut
64 tam inpurus fuisset ? Non est igitur tam explorata
ista ratio ad id quod vultis confirmandum quam
videtur. Sed quia commune hoc est argumentum
aliorum etiam philosophorum, omittam hoc tempore ;
ad vestra propria venire malo.
65 " Concedo esse deos ; doce me igitur unde sint, ubi
sint, quales sint corpore animo vita ; haec enim scire
desidero. Abuteris ad omnia atomorum regno et
licentia ; hinc quodcumque in solum venit, ut dicitur,
effingis atque efficis. Quae primum nullae sunt. Nihil
est enim . . .^ quod vacet corpore ; corporibus autem
omnis obsidetur locus; ita nullum inane, nihil esse
66 individuum potest. XXIV. Haec ego nunc physi-
corum oracula fundo, vera an falsa nescio, sed veri
tamen simihora quam vestra. Ista enim flagitia
Democriti sive etiam ante Leucippi, esse corpuscula
^ aut secl. Jos. Scaliger. * lacunam Lamhinus.
■ Proverbial for a rough, savage character.
^ Or perhaps ' that meets the loot.'
" A considerable number of words seem to have been
lost here.
62
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xxiii.— xxiv.
well believe has discouraged niany people since from
professing atheism, since the mcre expression of
doubt did not succeed in escaping punishment. WTiat
are we to say about the men guilty of sacrilege or
impiety or perjury ?
Suppose that ever Lucius Tubulus,
Lupus or Carbo, or some son of Neptune,"
as LuciHus has it, had believed in the gods, would
14 he have been such a perjurer and scoundrel ? We
find then that your argument is not so well-estab-
lished a proof of the view which you uphold as you
imagine it to be. Still, as it is a hne of reasoning
that is followed by other philosophers as well, I will
pass it over for the present, and turn rather to
doctrines pecuHar to your school.
16 "I grant the existence of the gods : do you then (2) Argu-
teach me their orio-in, their dweUing-place, their atomism
bodily and spiritual nature, their mode of Hfe ; for l^^^^^^ '•
these are the things which I want to know. In regard doctrine
to all of them you make great play with the lawless °PP°'^.^ ^
domination of the atoms ; from these you construct
and create everything that comes upon the ground,^
as they say. Now in the first place, there are no
such things as atoms. For there is nothing . . . ^ in-
corporeal, but all space is fiUed with material bodies ;
hence there can be no such thing as void, and no such
56 thing as an indivisible body. XXIV. In all of this
I speak for the time being only as the mouthpiece
of our oracles of natural philosophy ; whether their
utterances are true or false I do not know, but at all
events they are more probable than those of your
school. As for the outrageous doctrines of Demo-
critus, or perhaps of his predecessor Leueippus, that
63
CICERO
quaedam^ levia, alia aspera, rotunda alia, partim
autem angulata, curvata^ quaedam et quasi ad-
unca, ex his effectum esse caelum atque terram nuUa
cogente natura sed concursu quodam fortuito — hanc
tu opinionem, C. Vellei, usque ad hanc aetatem per-
duxisti, priusque te quis de omni vitae statu quam
de ista auctoritate deiecerit ; ante enim iudicasti
Epicureum te esse oportere quam ista cognovisti :
ita necesse fuit aut haec flagitia concipere animo aut
67 susceptae philosophiae nomen amittere. Quid enim
mereas ut Epicureus esse desinas ? * Nihil equidem '
inquis ' ut rationem vitae beatae veritatemque
deseram.' Ista igitur est veritas? Nam de vita
beata nihil repugno, quam tu ne in deo quidem esse
censes nisi plane otio langueat. Sed ubi est veritas ?
In mundis credo innumerabilibus omnibus minimis
temporum punctis aUis nascentibus ahis cadentibus ;
an in individuis corpusculis tam praeclara opera
nulla moderante natura, nulla ratione fingentibus?
Sed obhtus Uberahtatis meae qua tecum paulo ante
uti coeperam, plura complector. Concedam igitur ex
individuis constare omnia : quid ad rem ? deorum
68 enim natura quaeritur. Sint sane ex atomis ; non
igitur aeterni. Quod enim ex atomis, id natum
aliquando est ; si nati,^ nulli dei ante quam nati ;
^ quaedam, <alia> Reid.
* curvata B : firamata A, hamata edd.
3 nati deft., natum A, B.
64
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xxiv.
there are cerlain miniite particles, some smooth,
others rough, some round, some angular, some curved
or hook-shaped, and that heaven and earth were
created from these, not by compulsion of any natural
law but by a sort of accidental coUiding — this is the
behef to which you, Gaius Velleius, have clung all
your hfe long, and it would be easier to make you
alter all your principles of conduct than abandon the
teachings of your master ; for you made up your
mind that Epicureanism claimed your allegiance
before you learned these doctrines : so that you were
faced with the alternative of eitlier accepting tliese
outrageous notions or surrendering the title of the
17 school of your adoption. For what would you
take to cease to be an Epicurean ? ' For no con-
sideration,' you reply, ' would I forsake the principles
of happiness and the truth.' Then is Epicureanism
the truth ? For as to happiness I don't join issue, since
in your view even divine happiness involves being
bored to death with idleness. But where is the truth
to be found ? I suppose in an infinite number of
worlds, some coming to birth and others hurled into
ruin at every minutest moment of time ? or in the
indivisible particles that produce all the marvels of
creation ^Wthout any controlhng nature or reason ?
But I am forffettinsr the indul^ence which I be^^an to
o o o o
show you just now, and am taking too wide a range.
I will grant therefore that everything is made out of
indivisible bodies ; but this takes us no farther, for
)8 we are trying to discover the nature of the gods. Sup- inconsi.nent
pose we allow that the gods are made of atoms : then y>th divine
it follows that they are not eternal. For what is made !!'}'." ^
of atoms came into existence at some time ; but ir'
the gods came into existence, before tliey came into
65
CICERO
et si ortus est deorum, interitus sit necesse est, ut
tu paulo ante de Platonis mundo disputabas. Ubi
igitur illud vestrum beatum et aeternum, quibus
duobus verbis significatis deum ? quod cum efficere
vultis, in dumeta conrepitis ; ita enim dicebas, non
corpus esse in deo sed quasi corpus, nec sanguinem
sed tamquam sanguinem.
69 XXV. " Hoc persaepe facitis, ut cum aliquid non
veri simile dicatis et effugere reprehensionem velitis
adferatis aliquid quod omnino ne fieri quidem possit,
ut satius fuerit illud ipsum de quo ambigebatur con-
cedere quam tam inpudenter resistere. Velut Epicu-
rus cum \dderet. si atomi ferrentur in locum inferio-
rem suopte pondere, nihil fore in nostra potestate,
quod esset earum motus certus et necessarius, invenit
quo modo necessitatem effugeret, quod videhcet
Democritum fugerat : ait atomum, cum pondere et
gravitate directo deorsus feratur, dechnare paululum.
70 Hoc dicere turpius est quam illud quod vult non posse
defendere. Idem facit contra dialecticos; a quibus
cum traditum sit in omnibus diiunctionibus in quibus
' aut etiam aut non ' poneretur alterum utrum esse
verum, pertimuit ne si concessum esset huius modi
aliquid ' aut vivet cras aut non vivet Epicurus,'
alterutrum fieret necessarium : totum hoc * aut etiam
« Above, § 49,
66
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xxiv.— xxv.
existence there were no gods ; and if the gods had
a beginning, they niust also perish, as you were
arguing a Uttle time ago about the world as conceived
by Plato. Where then do we find that happiness and
that eternity which in your system are the two catch-
words that denote divinity ? When you wish to
make this out, you take cover in a thicket of jargon ;
you gave us the formula just now ° — God has not
body but a semblance of body, not blood but a kind
of blood.
9 XXV. " This is a very common practice with your
school. You advance a paradox, and then, when you
want to escape censure, you adduce in support of it
some absolute impossibihty ; so that you would have
done better to abandon the point in dispute rather
than to offer so shameless a defence. For instance, Doctrine oi
Epicurus saw that if the atoms travelled downwards ^bsord^»"'*
by their own weight, we should have no freedom of
the will, since the motion of the atoms would be deter-
mined by necessity. He therefore invented a device
to escape from determinism (the point had apparently
escaped the notice of Democritus) : he said that the
atom while travelUng verticaUy downward by the
force of gravity makes a very sUght swerve to one
ro side. This defence discredits him more than if he
had had to abandon his original position. He does andsols^
the same in his battle with the logicians. Their wjc"'^^^''''
accepted doctrine is that in every disjunctive pro-
position of the form ' so-and-so either is or is not,' one
of the two alternatives must be true. Epicurus took
alarm ; if such a proposition as ' Epicurus either will
or will not be aUve to-morrow' were granted, one or
other alternative would be necessary. Accordincfly
he denied the necessity of a disjunctive proposition
67
CICERO
aut non * negavit esse necessarium ; quo quid dici
potuit obtusius ? Urguebat Arcesilas Zenonem, cum
ipse falsa omnia diceret quae sensibus viderentur,
Zenon autem nonnulla visa esse falsa, non omnia ;
timuit Epicurus ne si unum visum esset falsum
nullum esset verum : omnis sensus veri nuntios dixit
esse. Nihil horum nimis callide^ ; graviorem enim
plagam accipiebat ut leviorem repelleret.
71 " Idem facit in natura deorum ; dum individuorum
corporum concretionem fugit ne interitus et dissipatio
consequatur, negat esse corpus deorum sed tamquam
corpus, nec sanguinem sed tamquam sanguinem.
XXVI. Mirabile videtur quod non rideat haruspex
cum haruspicem viderit ; hoc mirabiUus, quod^ vos
inter vos risum tenere potestis.^ ' Non est corpus
sed quasi corpus ' : hoc intellegerem quale esset
si in ceris* fingeretur aut fictilibus figuris ; in deo
quid sit quasi corpus aut quid sit quasi sanguis
intellegere non possum. Ne tu quidem, Vellei, sed
non vis fateri.
72 *' Ista enim a vobis quasi dictata redduntur quae
Epicurus oscitans halucinatus est, cum quidem
gloriaretur, ut videmus in scriptis, se magistrum
habuisse nuUum. Quod etiam^ non praedicanti
tamen facile equidem crederem, sicut mali aedificii
domino glorianti se architectum non habuisse ; nihil
enim olet ex Academia, nihil ex Lycio, nihil ne
e puerilibus quidem discipHnis. Xenocraten audire
^ nimis callide Allen : fi callide, nisi callide dett.^ nisi ualde
A,B.
2 quod det.: quam (quam <ut> . . . possitis Plasberg).
^ potestis ed. : possitis. * cereis dett.
^ etiam dett. : et A, B, ei Klotz.
Q^
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xxv.— xxvi.
altogether. Now what could be stupider than that ?
Arcesilas used to attack Zeno because, whereas he
himself said that all sense-presentations are false,
Zeno said that some were false, but not all. Epicurus
feared that if a single sensation were admitted to be
false, none would be true : he therefore said that all
the senses give a true report. In none of these cases
did he behave very cleverly, for to parry a hghter blow
he laid himself open to one that was more severe.
" He does the same as regards the nature of the (3) Anthro-
gods. In his desire to avoid the assumption of a cSticSd'^""
dense cluster of atoms, which would involve the <^§§ ^-102).
possibiUty of destruction and dissipation, he says that corporeal
the gods have not a body but a semblance of body, f^^j'^^ ^.^
and not blood but a semblance of blood. XXVI. It gibie.
is thought surprising that an augur can see an augur
without smihng ; but it is more surprising that you
Epicureans keep a grave face when by yourselves.
* It is not body but a semblance of body.' I could
understand what this supposition meant if it related
to waxen ima^es or fio^ures of earthenware. but what
' a semblance of body ' or ' a semblance of blood *
may mean in the case of god, I cannot understand ;
nor can you either, \"elleius, only you won't admit it.
" The fact is that you people merely repeat by rote
the idle vapourings that Epicurus uttered when half
asleep ; for, as we read in his MTitings, he boasted
that he had never had a teacher. This I for my part
could well believe, even if he did not proclaim it, just
as I believe the owner of an ill-built house when he
boasts that he did not employ an architect ! He
shows not the faintest trace of the Academy or the
Lyceum, or even of the ordinary schoolboy studies.
He might have heard Xenocrates — by heaven, what
69
CICERO
potuit (quem \-irum, di immortales) ; et sunt qui
putent audisse, ipse non vult — credo plus nemini.
Pamphilum quendam Platonis auditorem ait a se
Sami auditum (ibi enim adulescens habitabat cum
patre et fratribus, quod in eam^ pater eius Neocles
agripeta venerat, sed cum agellus eum non satis
73 aleret, ut opinor ludi magister fuit) ; sed hunc
Platonicum mirifice contemnit Epicurus ; ita metuit
ne quid umquam didicisse videatur. In Nausiphane
Democriteo tenetur ; quem cum a se non neget
auditum, vexat tamen omnibus contumeUis ; atqui
si haec Democritea non audisset, quid audierat ?
quid enim est^ in physicis Epicuri non a Democrito ?
Nam etsi quaedam commutavit, ut quod paulo ante
de inchnatione atomorum dixi, tamen pleraque dicit
eadem, atomos inane imagines, infinitatem locorum
innumerabihtatemque mundorum, eorum ortus in-
teritus, omnia fere quibus naturae ratio continetur.
74 "Nuncistuc ' quasi corpus ' et ' quasi sanguinem*
quid intellegis ? Ego enim te scire ista mehus
quam me non fateor solum sed etiam facile patior ;
cum quidem' semel dicta sunt, quid est quod Velleius
intellegere possit, Cotta non possit ? Itaque corpus
quid sit, sanguis quid sit intellego, quasi corpus et
quasi sanguis quid sit nullo prorsus modo intellego.
Neque tu me celas ut Pythagoras solebat ahenos,
^ eam < insulam > Plasberg.
• enim est ed. : est ^, B^ enim dett. ' autem ? ed.
70
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xxvi.
a master ! — and some people think that he did, but he
himself denies it, and he ought to know ! He states
that he heard a certain Pamphilus, a pupil of Plato, at
Samos (where he resided in his youth with his father
and brother — his father Neocles had gone there to
takeup landjbut faihng tomakeahvingout of hisfarm,
rs I beheve kept a school). However Epicurus pours
endless scorn on this Platonist, so afraid is he of
appearing ever to have learnt anything from a teacher.
He stands convicted in the case of Nausiphanes, a
follower of Democritus, whom he does not deny he
heard lecture, but whom nevertheless he assails with
every sort of abuse. Yet if he had not heard from
him these doctrines of Democritus, what had he
heard ? for what is there in Epicurus's natural philo-
sophy that does not come from Democritus ? Since
even if he introduced some alterations, for instance
the swerve of the atoms, of which I spoke just now,
yet most of his system is the same, the atoms, the void,
the images, the infinity of space, and the countless
number of worlds, their births and their destructions,
in fact almost everything that is comprised in natural
science.
14c " As to your formula ' a semblance of body ' and
* a semblance of blood,' what meaning do you attach
to it ? That you have a better knowledge of the
matter than I have I freely admit, and what is more,
am quite content that this should be so ; but once it
is expressed in words, why should one of us be able
to understand it and not the other? Well then, I do
understand what body is and what blood is, but what
' a semblance of body ' and ' a semblance of blood *
are I don't understand in the very least. You are
not trying to hide the truth from me, as Pythagoras
71
CICERO
nec consulto dicis occulte tamquam Heraclitus, sed,
quod inter nos liceat, ne tu quidem intellegis.
75 XX\7I. Illud \ddeo pugnare te, species ut quaedam
sit deorum quae nihil concreti habeat nihil soUdi
nihil expressi nihil eminentis, sitque pura levis
perlucida. Dicemus igitur idem quod in Venere Coa :
corpus illud non est sed simile corporis, nec ille fusus
et candore mixtus rubor sanguis est sed quaedam
sanguinis simiHtudo ; sic in Epicureo deo non res
sed simiUtudines rerum esse. Fac id quod ne inteUegi
quidem potest mihi esse persuasum ; cedo mihl
istorum adumbratorum deorum Uniamenta atque
76 formas. Non deest hoc loco copia rationum quibus
docere veUtis humanas esse formas deorum ; primum
quod ita sit informatum anticipatumque menti-
bus nostris ut homini, cum de deo cogitet, forma
occurrat humana ; deinde quod, quoniam rebus
omnibus exceUat natura divina, forma quoque esse
pulcherrima debeat, nec esse humana uUam pul-
chriorem ; tertiam rationem adfertis, quod nuUa in
77 aUa figura domiciUum mentis esse possit. Primum
igitur quidque considera quale sit ; arripere enim
mihi videmini quasi vestro iure rem nuUo modo
probabilem. < Primum^> omnium quis tam caecus
in contemplandis rebus umquam fuit ut non videret
species istas hominum conlatas in deos aut consiUo
* Plasberg,
72
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xxvi.— xxvii.
used to hide it from strangcrs, nor yet are you speak-
ing obscurely on purpose likc Heraclitus, but (to
speak candidly between ourselves) you don't under-
75 stand it yourself any more than I do. XXVII. I am
aware that what you maintain is that the gods possess
a certain outward appearance, which has no firmness
or sohdity, no definite shape or outhne, and which
is free from gross admixture, volatile, transparent.
Therefore we shall use the same language aswe should
of the Venus of Cos : her's is not real flesh but the
hkeness of flesh, and the manthng blush that dyes
her fair cheek is not real blood but something that
counterfeits blood ; similarly in the god of Epicurus
we shall say that there is no real substance but some-
thing that counterfeits substance. But assume that
I accept as true a dogma that I cannot even under-
stand : exhibit to me, pray, the forms and features
J6 of your shadow-deities. On this topic you are at no
loss for arguments designed to prove that the gods
have the form of men : first because our minds
possess a preconceived notion of such a character that,
when a man thinks of god, it is the human form that
presents itself to him ; secondly, because inasmuch
as the divine nature surpasses all other things, the
divine form also must needs be the most beautiful,
and no form is more beautiful than that of man.
The third reason you advance is that no other shape
n is capable of being the abode of intelhgence. Well Anthropo-
then, take these arguments one by one and consider do^ctrines
what they amount to ; for in my view they are based '^"e to
on an arbitrary and quite inadmissible assumption on superstition
your part. First of all, was there ever any student °^ ^ainty.
so bhnd as not to see that human shape has been thus
assigned to the gods either by the dehberate con-
73
CICERO
quodam sapientium, quo facilius animos imperitorum
ad deorum cultum a vitae pra^itate converterent, aut
superstitione, ut essent simulacra quae venerantes
deos ipsos se adire crederent ? Auxerunt autem haec
eadem poetae, pictores, opifices ; erat enim non facile
agentis aliquid et molientis deos in aliarum forma-
rum imitatione servare. Accessit etiam ista opinio
fortasse quod homini homine pulchrius nihil vide-
batur.^ Sed tu hoc, physice, non vides, quam blanda
conciHatrix et quasi sui sit lena natura ? An putas
ullam esse terra marique beluam quae non sui ge-
neris belua maxime delectetur ? Quod ni ita esset,
cur non gestiret taurus equae contrectatione, equus
vaccae ? An tu aquilam aut leonem aut delphinum
ullam anteferre censes figuram suae ? Quid igitur
mirum si hoc eodem modo homini natura praescripsit
ut nihil pulchrius quam hominem putaret ? . . . ^
eam esse causam cur deos hominum simihs putaremus?
78 " Quid censes si ratio^ esset in beluis? nonne*
suo quasque generi plurimum tributuras fuisse ?
XXVIII. At mehercule ego (dicam enim ut sentio)
quamvis amem ipse me, tamen non audeo dicere
pulchriorem esse me quam ille fuerit taurus qui vexit
Europam ; non enim hoc loco de ingeniis aut de
orationibus^ nostris sed de specie figuraque quaeritur.
Quodsi fingere nobis et iungere formas veUmus,
* videbatur {vel videtur) Schomann : videatur.
2 lacunam suspic. Mayor.
■ oratio Dum£snil. * nonne ed. : non. ^ rationibus ? ed.
" Some words appear to have been lost here.
* Perhaps the text should be corrected to ' speech.*
" Perhaps the text should be corrected to ' rationaU*
74
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xx\ii.— xxviii.
trivance of philosophers, the better to enable them
to turn the hearts of the ignorant from vicious
practices to the observance of rehgion, or by super-
stition, to supply images for men to worship in the
behef that in so doing they had direct access to the
divine presence ? These notions moreover have been
fostered by poets, painters and artificers, who found
it difficult to represent hving and active deities in the
hkeness of any other shape than that of man. Per-
haps also man's beUef in his own superior beauty, to
which you referred, may have contributed to the
result. But surely you as a natural philosopher are
aware what an insinuating go-between and pander
of her o-VMi charms nature is ! Do you suppose that
there is a single creature on land or in the sea which
does not prefer an animal of its own species to any
other ? If this were not so, why should not a bull
desire to couple with a mare, or a horse with a cow ?
Do you imagine that an eagle or hon or dolphin
thinks any shape more beautiful than its own ? Is
it then surprising if nature has hke^-ise taught man
to think his own species the most beautiful . . .° that
this was a reason why we should think the gods
resemble man ?
78 " Suppose animals possessed reason,^ do you not Anthropo-
iT_ . 1 , 1 . ■ -L 11 1- • • morpbism
thmk that they would each assign pre-emmence riero-atnry
to their own species ? XXVIII. For my part I !f r^fi.^t"^Q^
protest (if I am to say what I think) that although
I am not lacking in self-esteem yet I don't presume
to call myself more beautiful than the famous bull
on which Europa rode ; for the question is not here
of our intellectual and oratorical ^ powers but of our
outward form and aspect. Indeed if we choose to
make imaginary combinations of shapes, would you
75
CICERO
qualis ille maritimus Triton pingitur, natantibus
invehens beluis adiunctis humano corpori, nolis
esse ? Difficih in loco versor ; est enim vis tanta
naturae ut homo nemo velit nisi hominis simihs
79 esse — et quidem formica formicae ; sed tamen cuius
hominis ? quotus enim quisque formosus est ?
Athenis cum essem, e gregibus epheborum \ix
singuh reperiebantur — video quid adriseris, sed
ita tamen se res habet. Deinde nobis, qui con-
cedentibus philosophis antiquis adulescentuHs delec-
tamur, etiam vitia saepe iucunda sunt. * Naevus in
articulo pueri delectat ' Alcaeum ; at est corporis
macula naevus ; ilh tamen hoc lumen \-idebatur.
Q. Catulus, huius collegae et famiharis nostri pater,
dilexit municipem tuum Roscium, in quem etiam
illud est eius :
constiteram exorientem Auroram forte salutans,
cum subito a laeva Roscius exoritur.
pace mihi liceat, caelestes, dicere vestra :
mortalis visust pulchrior esse deo.
Huic deo pulchrior ; at erat, sicuti hodie est, perver-
sissimis ocuhs : quid refert, si hoc ipsum salsum ilU
et venustum videbatur ?
80 " Redeo ad deos. XXIX. Ecquos si non tam*
strabones at paetulos esse arbitramur, ecquos naevum
habere, ecquos silos flaccos frontones capitones, quae
^ iam Ileinsius.
" The Latin is part of a verse from an unknown source.
76
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xxviii.— xxix.
not like to resenible the merman Triton who is
depicted riding upon swimming monsters attached
to his man's body ? I am on tickhsh ground here,
for natural instinct is so strong that every man
79 wishes to be Hke a man and nothing else. Yes, and
every ant hke an ant ! Still, the question is, hke
what man ? How small a percentage of handsome
people there are ! When I was at Athens, there was
scarcely one to be found in each platoon of the train-
ing-corps — I see why you smile, but the fact is so
all the same. Another point : we, who with the
sanction of the philosophers of old are fond of the
society of young men, often find even their defects
agreeable. Alcaeus ' admires a mole upon his
favourite's wrist ' ** ; of course a mole is a blemish, but
Alcaeus thought it a beauty. Quintus Catulus, the
father of our colleague and friend to-day, was warmly
attached to your fellow-townsman Roscius, and aetu-
ally wrote the following verses in his honour :
By chance abroad at dawn, I stood to pray
To the uprising deity of day ;
^^'hen lo ! iipon my left — propitious sight —
Suddenly Roscius dawned in radiance bright.
Forgive me, heavenly pow'rs, if I declare,
Meseem'd the mortal than the god more fair.
To Catulus, Roscius was fairer than a god. As a
matter of fact he liad, as he has to-day, a pronounced
squint ; but no matter — in the eyes of Catuhis this
in itself gave him piquancy and charm.
80 " I return to the gods. XXIX. Can we imagine any
gods, I do not say as cross-eyed as Roscius, but with
a shght cast ? Can we picture any of them with a
mole, a snub nose, protruding ears, prominent brows
and too large a head — defects not unknown among
77
CICERO
sunt in nobis ? an omnia emendata in illis ?
Detur id vobis ; num etiam una est omnium facies ?
nam si plures, aliam esse alia pulchriorem necesse
est : igitur aliquis non pulcherrimus deus. Si^ una
omniiun facies est, florere in caelo Academiam
necesse est : si enim nihil inter deum et deum
difFert, nulla est apud deos cognitio, nulla perceptio.
81 " Quid si etiam, Vellei, falsum illud omnino est,
nullam aham nobis de deo cogitantibus speciem
nisi hominis occurrere ? tamenne ista tam absurda
defendes ? Nobis fortasse sic occurrit ut dicis ; a
parvis enim^ lovem lunonem IMinervam Neptunum
Vulcanum Apolhnem rehquos deos ea facie novi-
mus qua pictores fictoresque voluerunt, neque solum
facie sed etiam ornatu aetate vestitu. At non
Aegyptii nec Syri nec fere cuncta barbaria ; firmiores
enim videas apud eos opiniones esse de bestiis
quibusdam quam apud nos de sanctissimis temphs
82 et simulacris deorum. Etenim fana multa spohata
et simulacra deorum de locis sanctissimis ablata
vidimus^ a nostris, at vero ne fando quidem auditum
est crocodilum aut ibin aut faelem violatum ab
Aegyptio. Quid igitur censes ? Apim iUum sanc-
tum Aegyptiorum bovem nonne deum videri
Aegyptiis ? Tam hercle quam tibi iham vestram
Sospitam. Quam tu numquam ne in somnis quidem
* sin ? ed. * a parvis enim I^^lotz : apparuisse.
• vidimus Bouhier : videmus.
78
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xxix.
us men — , or are they entirely free from personal
blemishes ? Suppose we grant you that, are we
also to say that they are all exactly ahke ? If not,
there will be degrees of beauty among them, and
therefore a god can fali short of supreme beauty.
If on the other hand they are all alike, then the
Academic school must }iave a large following in
heaven, since if there is no difference between one
god and another, among the gods knowledge and
perception must be impossible.
81 " Furthermore, Velleius, what if your assumption, Anthropo
that when we think of god the only form that pre- "'orphic
sents itself to us is that of a man, be entirely untrue ? not shared
>\ill you nevertheless continue to maintain your ^^ ^ ^^^^
absurdities ? Very likely we Romans do imagine
god as you say, because from our childhood Jupiter,
Juno, JNlinerva, Neptune, ^'ulcan and Apollo have
been kno^\Ti to us Mith the aspect with which painters
and sculptors have chosen to represent them, and
not with that aspect only, but having that equipment,
age and dress. But they are not so known to the
Egyptians or Syrians, or any almost of the uncivilized
races. Among these you will find a behef in certain
animals more hrmly established than is reverence for
the holiest sanctuaries and images of the gods with
82 us. For we have often seen temples robbed and
images of gods carried off from the holiest shrines by
our fellow-countrymen, but no one ever even heard
of an Egyptian laying profane hands on a crocodile
or ibis or cat. What therefore do you infer ? that
the Egyptians do not believe their sacred buU Apis
to be a god ? Precisely as much as you beheve the
Sa^-iour Juno of your native place to be a goddess.
You never see her even in your dreams unless
79
CICERO
vides nisi cum pelle caprina cum hasta cum scutulo
cum calceolis repandis : at non est talis Argia nec
Romana luno. Ergo alia species lunonis Argi\-is,
alia Lanu^dniSj alia nobis.^ Et quidem alia nobis
83 Capitolini, alia Afris Hammonis lovis. XXX. Non
pudet igitur physicum, id est speculatorem venato-
remque naturae, ab animis consuetudine inbutis
petere testimonium veritatis ? Isto enim modo
dicere Ucebit lovem semper barbatum, ApolUnem
semper inberbem, caesios oculos Minervae, caeruleos
esse Neptum'. Et quidem laudamus Athenis Volca-
num eum quem fecit Alcamenes, in quo stante atque
vestito leviter apparet claudicatio non deformis.
Claudum igitur habebimus deum quoniam de Volcano
sic accepimus. Age et his vocabuhs esse deos faci-
84 mus^ quibus a nobis nominantur ? At primum, quot
hominum hnguae, tot nomina deorum. Non enim,
ut tu Velleius, quocumque veneris, sic idem in Itaha
Volcanus, idem in Africa, idem in Hispania. Deinde
nominum non magnus numerus ne in pontificiis
quidem nostris, deorum autem innumerabihs.
An sine nominibus sunt ? Istud quidem ita vobis
dicere necesse est ; quid enim attinet, cum una
facies sit, plura esse nomina ? Quam behum erat,
VeUei, confiteri potius nescire quod nescires,^ quam
ista effutientem nauseare atque ipsum tibi* disphcere!
* aha nobis det., om. cett. " faciamus dett.
* nescires dett. : nesciris A^ nescis corr. B.
* tibi j\fanutius : sibi.
80
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xxix.— xxx.
equipped ^^ith goat-skin, spear, buckler and slippers
turned up at the toe. Yet that is not the aspect of
the Argive Juno, nor of the Ronian. It follows that
Juno has one form for the Argives, another for the
people of Lanuvium, and another for us. And
indeed our Jupiter of the Capitol is not the same as
83 the Africans' Juppiter Ammon. XXX. Should not
the physical philosopher therefore, that is, the ex-
plorer and tracker-out of nature, be ashamed to go
to minds besotted with habit for e^idence of truth ?
On vour principle it will be legitimate to assert that
Jupiter always Mears a beard and Apollo never, and
that Minerva has grey eyes and Neptune blue. Yes,
and at Athens there is a much-praised statue of
Vulcan made by Alcamenes, a standing figure,
draped, which displays a shght lameness, though not
enoueh to be unsifrhtlv. We shall therefore deem
god to be lame, since tradition represents \'ulcan so.
Tell me now, do we also make out the gods to have
the same names as those by which they are kno^vn
84 to us ? But in the first place the gods have as many
names as mankind has languages. You are Velleius
wherever you travel, but \'ulcan has a different name
in Italy, in Africa and in Spain. Again, the total
number of names even in our pontifical books is not
great, but there are gods innumerable. Are they
Mithout names ? You Epicureans at all events are
forced to say so, since what is the point of more
names when they are all exactly alike ? How de-
hghtful it would be, \ elleius, if when you did not
know a thing you would admit your ignorance, in-
stead of uttering this drivel, which must make even
your own gorge rise with disgust ! Do you really
81
CICERO
An tii mei similem putas esse aut tui deum ? Pro-
fecto non putas.
" Quid ergo, solem dicam aut lunam aut caelum
deum ? Ergo etiam beatum : quibus fruentem
voluptatibus ? et sapientem : qui potest esse in
eius modi trunco sapientia ? Haec vestra sunt.
85 Si igitur nec humano visu, quod docui, nec tali ali-
quo, quod tibi ita persuasum est, quid dubitas negare
deos esse ? Non audes. Sapienter id quidem, etsi
hoc loco non populum metuis sed ipsos deos : novi
ego Epicureos omnia sigilla venerantes,^ quamquam
video non nullis ^ideri Epicurum, ne in offensionem
Atheniensium caderet, verbis rehquisse deos, re sus-
tuHsse. Itaque in ilhs selectis eius brevibusque sen-
tentiis, quas appellatis Kvpcas So^ag, haec ut opinor
prima sententia est : ' Quod beatum et inmortale
est, id nec habet nec exhibet cuiquam negotium.'
XXXI. In hac ita exposita sententia sunt qui existi-
ment, quod ille inscitia plane loquendi fecerit,'
fecisse consulto ; de homine minime vafro male
86 existimant. Dubium est enim utrum dicat ahquid
beatum esse et inmortale an, si quid sit, id esse
tale.' Non animadvertunt hic eum ambigue locu-
tum esse sed multis ahis locis et illum et Metrodorum
tam aperte quam paulo ante te. Ille vero deos esse
* venerantes Manutms : numerantes.
* fecerit A^ B : fecerat co7-r. A, dett. : fecit .? (ci. sed
reiecit Plasherg). ^ tale Heindorf: mortale.
" Epicurus recorded his principal tenets in a series of
briefarticlesofbeliefwhich h&ca\\^diKvpLaLbb^aL,Authoritative
Opinions. Diog. L. x. 139. This one runs rd /xaKo.pioi' Kal
&(p6apT0P oCt€ avTO wpdyfxaTa ^x^' oiJre fiXXy irap^ct,
82
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xxx.— xxxi.
believe that god resembles me, or yourself? Of
coiirse you do not.
" What then ? Am I to say that the sun is a god,
or the moon, or the sky ? If so, we must also say
that it is happy ; but what forms of enjoyment con-
stitute its happiness ? and wise ; but how can wisdom
reside in a senseless bulk hke that ? These are argu-
35 ments employed by your own school. Well then, Anthropo
if the gods do not possess the appearance of men, as "^^^^^3^*^™
I have proved, nor some such form as that of the heid by
heavenly bodies, as you are convinced, why do you h^ggj^
hesitate to deny their existence ? You do not dare
to. W^ell, that is no doubt wise — although in this
matter it is not the pubUc that you fear, but the gods
themselves : I personally am acquainted with Epi-
cureans who worship every paltry image, albeit I
am aware that according to some people's view
Epicurus really aboHshed the gods, but nominally
retained them in order not to offend the people of
Athens. Thus the first of his selected aphorisms or
maxims, which you call the Ki/riai Doxai,^ runs, I
beheve, thus : That which is blessed and immortal
neiiher experiences trouble nor causes it to anyone.
XXXI. Now there are people who think that the
wording of this maxim was intentional, though really
it was due to the author's inabihty to express himself
clearly ; their suspicion does an injustice to the most
86 guileless of mankind. It is in fact doubtful whether
he means that there is a blessed and immortal being,
or that, (/there is, that being is such as he describes.
They fail to notice that although his language is
ambiguous here, yet in many other places both he
and Metrodorus speak as plainly as you yourself did
just now. Epicurus however does actually think
83
CICERO
putat, nec quemquam \ddi qui magis ea quae timenda
esse negaret timeret, mortem dico et deos ; quibus
mediocres homines non ita valde moventur, his ille
clamat omnium mortaUum mentes esse perterritas ;
tot milia latrocinantur morte proposita, alii omnia
quae possunt fana conpilant : credo aut illos mortis
timor terret aut hos rehgionis !
87 " Sed quoniam non audes (iam enim cum ipso Epi-
curo loquar) negare esse deos, quid est quod te in-
pediat aut solem aut mundum aut mentem aliquam
sempiternam in deorum numero^ ponere ? ' Num-
quam vidi ' inquit ' animam rationis consiUique
participem in ulla aUa nisi humana figura.' Quid ?
sohs numquidnam aut lunae aut quinque errantium
siderum simile \ddisti ? Sol duabus unius orbis
ultimis partibus definiens motum cursus annuos
conficit ; huius hanc lustrationem eiusdem incensa
radiis menstruo spatio luna complet ; quinque
autem stellae eundem orbem tenentes, ahae propius
a terris, aliae remotius, ab isdem principiiis dis-
88 paribus temporibus eadem spatia conficiunt. Num
quid tale, Epicure, \-idisti ? Ne sit igitur sol ne
luna ne stellae, quoniam nihil esse potest nisi quod
attigimus aut \idimus. Quid ? deum ipsum numne
vidisti ? Cur igitur credis esse ? Omnia toUamus
ergo quae aut historia nobis aut ratio nova adfert.
^ numero Walker : natura.
• i.e.f have you seen things perform all these motions
under your eyes? we see only parts of the courses of the
heavenly bodies.
84
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xxxi.
that the gods exist, nor have I ever met anybody more
afraid than he was of those thinijs Mhich he says are
not terrible at all, I mean death and the gods. Terrors
that do not very seriously alarm ordinary people,
according to Epicurus haunt the minds of all mortal
men : so many thousands commit brigandage, for
which the penalty is death, and other mcn rob
temples whenever they have the chance ; I suppose
the former are haunted by the fear of death and the
latter by the terrors of religion !
87 " But as you have not the courage (for I will now Ritionaiity
address myself to Epicurus in person) to deny that to humaiT^
the gods exist, what should hinder you from reckoning ^°^°^
as divine the sun, or the world, or some form of ever-
Uving intelligence ? ' I have never seen a mind
endowed with reason and with purpose/ he rephes,
* that was embodied in any but a human form.'
Well, but have you ever seen anything Hke the sun
or the moon or the five planets } The sun, hmiting
his motion by the two extreme points of one orbit,
completes his courses yearly. The moon, Ut by
the sun's rays, achieves tliis solar path in the
space of a month. The five planets, holding the same
orbit, but some nearer to and others farther from the
earth, from the same starting-points complete the
88 same distances in different periods of time. Now,
Epicurus, have you ever seen anything Hke this " ?
Well then, let us deny the existence of the sun, moon
and pLanets, inasmuch as nothing can exist save that
which we have touclied or seen. And what of god
himself ? You have never seen him, have you ?
Why then do you beheve in his existence ? On this
principle we must sweep aside everything unusual
of which history or science informs us. The next
85
CICERO
Ita fit ut mediterranei mare esse non credant.
Quae sunt tantae animi angustiae ? Ut, si Seriphi
natus esses nec umquam egressus ex insula in qua
lepusculos vulpeculasque saepe vidisses, non crederes
leones et pantheras esse cum tibi quales essent dice-
retur, si vero de elephanto quis diceret, etiam rideri
te putares.^
89 " Et tu quidem, Vellei, non vestro more sed dialecti-
corum, quae funditus gens vestra non no\at, argu-
menti^ sententiam conclusisti. Beatos esse deos
sumpsisti : concedimus. Beatum autem esse sine
virtute neminem posse. XXXII. Id quoque damus,
et libenter quidem. Virtutem autem sine ratione
constare non posse : conveniat id quoque necesse
est. Adiungis nec rationem esse nisi in hominis
figura : quem tibi hoc daturum putas } si enim ita
esset, quid opus erat te gradatim istuc pervenire ?
sumpsisses tuo iure. Qui^ autem est istuc gradatim ?
nam a beatis ad virtutem, a virtute ad rationem
video te venisse gradibus : a ratione ad humanam
figuram quo modo accedis ? Praecipitare istuc
quidem est, non descendere.
90 " Nec vero intellego cur maluerit Epicurus deos
hominum similes dicere quam homines deorum.
Quaeres quid intersit ; si enim hoc ilU simile sit, esse
illud huic. Video, sed hoc dico, non ab hominibus
formae figuram venisse ad deos ; di enim semper
fuerunt, nati numquam sunt, siquidem aeterni sunt
^ an quicquam . . . numquam vidimus e § 97 huc beno
transtulit Ilude.
^ argumenti yi, B : argumento dett.
^ qui Schomann : quid dett., quod A,B{ = quale Plasberg),
86
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xxxi.— xxxii.
thing would be for inland races to refuse to believe
in the existence of the sea. How can such narrow-
ness of mind be possible ? It follows that, if you
had been born in Seriphus and liad never left the
island, where you had been used to seeing nothing
larger than hares and foxes, when Hons and panthers
were described to you, you v>ould refuse to beheve
in their existence ; and if somebody told you about
an elephant, you would actually think that he was
making fun of you !
B9 " For your part, Velleius, you forsook the practice
of your school for that of the logicians — a science of
which your clan is entirely ignorant — and expressed
the doctrine in the form of a syllogism. You assumed
that the gods are happy : we grant it. But no one,
yousaid,can be happy withoutvirtue. XXXII. This
also we give you, and wiUingly. But virtue cannot
exist without reason. To this also we must agree.
You add, neither can reason exist save embodied in
human form. Who do you suppose will grant you
this ? for if it were true, what need had you to
arrive at it by successive steps ? you might have
taken it for granted. But what about your successive
steps ? I see how you proceeded step by step from
happiness to virtue, from virtue to reason ; but how
from reason do you arrive at human form ? That is
not a step, it is a headlong plunge.
K) " Nor indeed do I understand why Epicurus pre- Tiieo-
ferred to say that gods are Uke men rather than that o" mankSd
men are hke gods. ' What is the difference ? ' you equuiiy un-
will ask me, ' for if A is Hke B, B is Hke A.' I am ^«°^^°^^^^
aware of it ; but what I mean is, that the gods did
not derive the pattern of their form from men ; since
the gods have always existed, and were never born —
87
CICERO
futuri ; at homines nati ; ante igitur humana forma
quam homines, eaque^ erant forma di inmortales.
Non ergo illorum humana forma sed nostra divina
dicenda est.
" Verum hoc quidem ut voletis ; illud quaero, quae
fuerit tanta fortuna (nihil enim ratione in rerum
natura factum esse vultis) — sed tamen quis iste
91 tantus casus, unde tam fehx concursus atomorum, ut
repente homines deorum forma nascerentur. Semina-
ne deorum decidisse de caelo putamus in terras
et sic homines patrum similes extitisse ? Vellem
diceretis ; deorum cognationem agnoscerem non
invitus. Nihil tale dicitis, sed casu esse factum ut
essemus similes deorum.
" Et nunc argumenta quaerenda sunt quibus hoc
refellatur ? Utinam tam facile vera invenire pos-
sem quam falsa convincere. XXXIII. Etenim enu-
merasti memoriter et copiose, ut mihi quidem
admirari luberet in homine esse Romano tantam
scientiam, usque a Thale Milesio de deorum natura
92 philosophorum sententias. Omnesne tibi ilH deUrare
visi sunt qui sine manibus et pedibus constare deum
posse decreverint ? Ne hoc quidem vos movet
considerantis, quae sit utihtas quaeque opportunitas
in homine membrorum, ut iudicetis membris humanis
deos non egere ? Quid enim pedibus opus est sine
ingressu, quid manibus si nihil conprehendendum
est, quid rehqua discriptione omnium corporis
partium, in qua nihil inane, nihil sine causa, nihil
^ eaque dett. : ea qua A, B.
88
DE NATUllA DEORUM, I. xxxii.— xxxiii.
that is, if tliey are to be eternal ; whereas men were
born ; therefore the human form existed before man-
kind, and it was the form of the immortal gods. We
ought not to say that the gods have human form, but
that our form is divine.
" However, as to that, you may take your choice.
What I want to know is, how did such a piece of good
luck happen (for according to your school nothing
in the universe was caused by design) — but be that
91 as it may, what accident was so potent, how did such
a fortunate concourse of atoms come about, that
suddenly men were born in the form of gods ? Are
we to think that divine seed fell from heaven to
earth, and that thus men came into being resembhng
their sires ? I wish that this were your story, for I
should be glad to acknowledge my divine relations !
But you do not say any thing of the sort — you say that
our likeness to the gods was caused by chance.
" And now is there any need to search for argu-
ments to refute this ? I only wish I could dis-
cover the truth as easily as I can expose falsehood.
XXXIII. For you gave a full and accurate review,
which caused me for one to wonder at so much learn
ing in a Roman, of the theological doctrines of the
92 philosophers from Thales of Miletus downward. Did ^^at use
you think they were all out of their minds because iimbsto
they pronounced that god can exist without hands or ^^^Ti™^^^
feet ? Does not even a consideration of the adapta- gods?
tion of man's hmbs to their functions convince you
that the gods do not require human hmbs ? What
need is there for feet without walking, or for hands
if nothing has to be grasped, or for the rest of the hst
of the various parts of the body, in which nothing is
useless, nothing without a reason, nothing super-
89
CICERO
supervacaneum est, itaque nulla ars imitari soUertiam
naturae potest ? Habebit igitur linguam deus et non
loquetur, dentes palatum fauces nuUum ad usum ;
quaeque procreationis causa natura corpori adfinxit
ea frustra habebit deus ; nec externa magis quam
interiora, cor pulmones iecur cetera, quae detracta
utilitate quid habent venustatis ? — quandoquidem
haec esse in deo propter pulchritudinem voltis.
93 " Istisne fidentes somniis non modo Epicurus et
Metrodorus et Hermarchus contra Pythagoram Pla-
tonem Empedoclemque dixerunt sed meretricula
etiam Leontium contra Theophrastum scribere ausa
est ? scito illa quidem seraione et Attico, sed tamen :
tantum Epicuri hortus habuit hcentiae. Et soletis
queri ; Zeno quidem etiam htigabat ; quid dicam
Albucium ? Nam Phaedro niliil elegantius nihil
humanius, sed stomachabatur senex si quid asperius
dixeram, cum Epicurus Aristotelem vexarit contume-
hosissime, Phaedoni Socratico turpissime male dixerit,
Metrodori sodahs sui fratrem Timocraten quia nescio
quid in philosophia dissentiret totis voluminibus con-
ciderit, in Democritum ipsum quem secutus est fuerit
ingratus, Nausiphanen magistrum suum a quo non^
nihil didicerat tam male acceperit. XXXIV. Zeno
quidem non eos solum qui tum erant, Apollodorum
* non dett. : om. A, B.
90
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xxxiii.— xxxiv.
fliious, so that no art can imitate the cunning of
nature's handiwork ? It secms then that god will
have a tonguc, and will not speak ; teeth, a palate,
a throat, for no use ; the organs that nature has
attached to the body for the object of procreation —
these god will possess, but to no purpose ; and not
only the external but also the internal organs, the
heart, lungs, liver and the rest, which if they are not
useful are assuredly not beautiful — since your school
holds that god possesses bodily parts because of their
beauty.
93 " Was it dreams Hke these that not only en- Epicnreana
couraged Epicurus and Metrodorus and Hermarchus other^ ^
to contradict Pythagoras, Plato and Empedocles, but schoois, but
actually emboldened a loose woman Hke Leontium anthropo-
to ^^Tite a book refuting Theophrastus ? Her style morphism
no doubt is the neatest of Attic, but all the same ! — ridicuious.
such was the Hcence that prevailed in the Garden
of Epicurus. And yet you are touchy yourselves,
indeed Zeno actually used to invoke the law. I need
not mention Albucius. As for Phaedrus, though he
was the most relined and courteous of old gentlemen,
he used to lose his temper if I spoke too harshly ;
although Epicurus attacked Aristotle in the most
insulting manner, abused Socrates' pupil Phaedo
quite outrageously, devoted whole volumes to an
onslaught on Timocrates, the brother of his own
associate Metrodorus, for ditfering from him on some
point or other of philosophy, showed no gratitude
toward Democritus himself, whose system he adopted,
and treated so badly his own master Xausiphanes,
from whom he had learnt a considerable amount.
XXXIV. As for Zeno, he aimed the shafts of his
abuse not only at his contemporaries, ApoUodorus,
91
CICERO
Silum ceteros, figebat maledictis, sed Socraten
ipsum parentem philosophiae Latino verbo utens
scurram Atticum fuisse dicebat, Chrysippum num-
94 quam nisi Chrysippam vocabat. Tu ipse paulo ante
cum tamquam senatum philosophorum recitares,
summos viros desipere deUrare dementis esse dicebas.
Quorum si nemo verum vidit de natura deorum,
verendum est ne nuUa sit omnino.
" Nam ista quae vos dicitis sunt tota commenticia,
vix digna lucubratione anicularum. Non enim sentitis
quam multa vobis suscipienda sint si inpetraritis ut
concedamus eandem hominum esse et deorum figuram.
Omnis cultus et curatio corporis erit eadem adhibenda
deo quae adhibetur homini, ingressus cursus accu-
bitio incUnatio sessio conprehensio, ad extremum
95 etiam sermo et oratio ; nam quod et maris deos et
feminas esse dicitis, quid sequatur videtis. Equidem
mirari satis non possum unde ad istas opiniones vester
ille princeps venerit. Sed clamare non desinitis
retinendum hoc esse, deus ut beatus inmortalisque
sit. Quid autem obstat quo minus sit beatus si non
sit bipes ? aut ista sive beatitas sive beatitudo
dicenda est (utrumque omnino durum, sed usu
moUienda nobis verba sunt) — verum ea quaecumque
est cur aut in solem illum aut in hunc mundum aut
in ahquam mentem aeternam figura membrisque
96 corporis vacuam cadere non potest ? Nihil aUud dicis
nisi : ' Numquam vidi solem aut mundum beatum,*
92
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xxxiv.
Silus and the rest, but Socrates himself, the father
of philosophy, he declared to liave been the Attic
equivalent of our Roman buffoons ; and he always
>4 alluded to Chrysippus in the feminine gender. You
yourself just now, when reeHng off the hst of phiio-
sophers Uke the censor calhng the roll of the Senate,
said that all those eminent men were fools, idiots and
madmen. But if none of these discerned the truth
about the divine nature, it is to be feared that the
divine nature is entirely non-existent.
" For as for your schoors account of the matter,
it is the merest fairy-story, hardly worthy of old wives
at work by lampHght. You don't perceive what a
number of things you are let in for, if we consent to
admit that men and gods have the same form. You
will have to assign to god exactly the same physical
exercises and care of the person as are proper to men :
he will walk, run, recHne, bend, sit, hold things in the
hand, and lastly even converse and make speeches.
)6 As for your saying that the gods are male and female,
weH, you must see what the consequence of that wiU
be. For my part, I am at a loss to imagine how your
great founder arrived at such notions. AH the same
you never cease vociferating that we must on no
account rehnquish the divine happiness and immor-
tahty. But Mhat prevents god from being happy
without having two legs ? and why cannot your
* beatitude ' or * beatity,' whichever form we are to
use — and either is certainly a hard mouthful, but
words have to be softened by use — but whatever it
is, why can it not apply to the sun yonder, or to this
world of ours, or to some eternal inteUigence devoid
)6 of bodily shape and membcrs ? Your only answer
is, * I have never seen a happy sun or world.* Well,
£ 93
CICERO
Quid, mundum praeter hunc umquamne \ddisti ?
Negabis. Cur igitur non sescenta milia esse mun*
dorum sed innumerabilia ausus es dicere ? ' Ratio
docuit.' Ergo hoc te ratio non docebit, cum prae-
stantissima natura quaeratur eaque beata et aeterna,
quae sola di^dna natura est, ut inmortahtate vincamur*
ab ea natura sic animi praestantia vinci, atque ut
animi item corporis ? Cur igitur cum ceteris rebus
inferiores simus forma pares sumus ? ad simiHtudi-
nem enim deorum propius accedebat humana virtus
07 quam figura. XXXV. [^An quicquam tam puerile dici
potest (ut eundem locum diutius urgeam) quam si
ea genera beluarum quae in rubro mari Indiave
gignuntur^ nulla esse dicamus ? Atqui ne curiosis-
simi quidem homines exquirendo audire tam multa
possunt quam sunt multa quae terra mari paludibus
fluminibus exsistunt ; quae negemus esse quia num-
quam vidimus !]
" Ipsa vero quam nihil ad rem pertinet quae vos
delectat maxime similitudo ! Quid, canis nonne
simihs lupo ? — atque, ut Ennius,
simia quam similis turpissuma bestia nobis ! —
at mores in utroque dispares. Elephanto beluarum
98 nulla prudentior : at figura* quae vastior ? De
bestiis loquor : quid, inter ipsos homines nonne et
simiUimis formis dispares mores et moribus simillimis*
figura dissimihs ? Etenim si semel, Vellei, suscipimus
* vincamur A^ B : vincimur dett.
* an quicquara . . . nunquam vidimus in § 88 hene trana-
tulit Hude.
' gignuntur Schomann : gignantur.
* at figura det. (figura B) : ad figuram A,
' simHiimis det. : om. A, B: paribus Klotz,
94
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xxxiv.— xxxv.
but have you ever seen any other world but this one ?
No, you will reply. Then why did you venture to
assert the existence of, not thousands and thousands,
but a countless number of worlds ? ' That is what
reason teaches.' Then will not reason teach you that
when we seek to find a being who shall be supremely
excellent, and happy and eternal as well — and
nothing else constitutes divinity — , even as that being
will surpass us in immortahty, so also will it surpass
us in mental excellence, and even as in mental excel-
lence, so also in bodily. Why then, if we are inferior
to god in all else, are we his equals in form ? for man
came nearer to the divine image in virtue than in
7 outward aspect. XXXV. [Can you mention any-
thing so cliildish (to press the same point still further)
as to deny the existence of the various species of huge
animals that grow in the Red Sea or in India ? Yet
not even the most dihgent investigators could possibly
collect information about all the vast multitude of
creatures that exist on land and in the sea, the
marshes and the rivers : the existence of which we
are to deny, because we have never seen them !]
" Then take your favourite argument from re-
semblance : how utterly pointless it really is ! Why,
does not a dog resemble a wolf ? — and, to quote
Ennius,
How like us is that ugly brute, the ape ! —
but the two differ in habits. The elephant is the
)8 wisest of beasts, but the most ungainly in shape. I Why should
speak of animals, but is it not the case even with men onTyTn^^^^
that when very much ahke in appearance they differ human
widely in character, and when very much ahke in
character they are unUke in appearance ? In fact,
95
CICERO
genus hoc argumenti, attende quo serpat. Tu enim
sumebas nisi in hominis figura rationem inesse non
posse ; sumet alius nisi in terrestri, nisi in eo qui
natus sit, nisi in eo qui adoleverit, nisi in eo qui
didicerit, nisi in eo qui ex animo constet et corpore
caduco et infirmo, postremo nisi in homine atque
mortaH. Quodsi in omnibus his rebus obsistis, quid
est quod te forma una conturbet ? His enim omni-
bus quae proposui adiunctis in homine rationem esse
et mentem videbas ; quibus detractis deum tamen
nosse te dicis, modo Hniamenta maneant. Hoc est
non considerare sed quasi sortiri quid loquare.
99 Nisi forte ne hoc quidem attendis, non modo in
homine sed etiam in arbore quicquid supervacaneum
sit aut usum non habeat obstare. Quam molestum
est uno digito plus habere ! Quid ita } Quia nec
ad speciem nec ad^ usum aHum quinque desiderant.
Tuus autem deus non digito uno redundat sed capite
coUo cervicibus lateribus alvo tergo popHtibus mani-
bus pedibus feminibus cruribus. Si ut inmortaHs sit,
quid haec ad vitam membra pertinent .'' quid ipsa
facies } Magis iHa, cerebrum cor puhnones iecur :
haec enim sunt domiciHa vitae ; oris quidem habitus
ad vitae firmitatem nihil pertinet.
100 XXXVI. " Et eos vituperabas qui ex operibus magni-
ficis atque praeclaris, cum ipsum mundum, cum eius
membra caelum terras maria, cumque horum insignia
* ad . . . ad om. A^ B.
S6
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xxxv.— xxxvi.
Velleius, if once we embark on this line of argument,
see how fiw it takes us. You claimed it as axiomatic
that reason can only exist in human form ; but some-
one else will claim that it can only exist in a terrestrial
creature, in one that has been born, has gro^vn up,
has been educated, consists of a soul and a body
hable to decay and disease — in fine, that it can only
exist in a mortal man. If you stand out against each
of these assumptions, why be troubled about shape
only ? Rational inteUigence exists in man, as you
saw, only in conjunction with all the attributes that
I have set out ; yet you say that you can recognize
god even with all these attributes stripped off, pro-
vided that the outward form remains. This is not
to weigh the question, it is to toss up for what you
9 are to say. Unless indeed you happen never to have
observed this either, that not only in a man but even
in a tree whatever is superfluous or without a use
is harmful. What a nuisance it is to have a single
finger too many ! Why is this ? Because, given five
fingers, there is no need of another either for appear-
ance or for use. But your god has got not merely
one finger more than he wants, but a head, neck,
spine, sides, belly, back, flanks, hands, feet, thighs,
legs. If this is to secure him immortaUty, what
have these members to do with Ufe ? What has even
the face ? It depends more on the brain, heart,
lungs and Uver, for they are the abode of Ufe : a
man's countenance and features have nothing to do
with his vitaUty.
XXXVI. " Then you censured those who argued whyhave
from the splendour and the bcauty of creation, and fj^nbTff'
who, observing the workl itself, and the parts of the theyare
world, the sky and earth and sea, and the sun, moon '°**^ *^®
97
CICERO
solem lunam stellasque vidissent, cumque temporum
maturitates mutationes vicissitudinesque cognovis-
sent, suspicati essent aliquam excellentem esse prae-
stantemque naturam quae haec efFecisset moveret
regeret gubernaret. Qui etiam si aberrant a^ con-
iectura, video tamen quid sequantur ; tu quod opus
tandem magnum et egregium habes quod effectum
divina mente videatur, ex quo esse deos suspicere ?
* Habemus ' ^ inquis ' in animo insitam informationem
quandam dei.' Et barbati quidem lovis, galeatae
101 Minervae : num igitur esse tahs putas ? Quanto
mehus haec vulgus imperitorum, qui non membra
solum hominis deo tribuant sed usum etiam membro-
rum. Dant enim arcum sagittas hastam chpeum
fuscinam fuhnen, et si actiones quae sint deorum
non vident, nihil agentem tamen deum non queunt
cogitare. Ipsi qui inridentur Aegyptii nullam beluam
nisi ob ahquam utihtatem quam ex ea caperent
consecraverunt ; velut ibes maximam vim serpentium
conficiunt, cum sint aves excelsae, cruribus rigidis,
corneo proceroque rostro ; avertunt pestem ab
Aegypto, cum volucris anguis ex vastitate Libyae
vento Africo invectas interficiunt atque consumunt,
ex quo fit ut iUae nec morsu vivae noceant nec odore
mortuae. Possum de ichneumonum utihtate de
crocodilorum de faehum dicere, sed nolo esse longus.
Ita concludam, tamen beluas a barbaris propter
beneficium consecratas, vestrorum deorum non modo
beneficium nuhum exstare sed ne factum quidem
* a om. Walker, * habemus dett. : habebam A^ B.
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xxxvi.
and stars that adorn them, and discovering the laws
of the seasons and their periodic successions, con-
jectured that there must exist some supreme and
transcendent being who had created these things,
and who imparted motion to them and guided and
governed them. Though this guess may be wide of
the mark, I can see what they are after ; but as for
you, what mighty masterpiece pray do you adduce
as apparently the creation of divine intelligence,
leading you to conjecture that gods exist ? * We
have an idea of god implanted in our minds,' you say.
Yes, and an idea of Jupiter with a beard, and 3vlinerva
in a helmet ; but do you therefore beUeve that those
l deities are really hke that ? The unlearned multitude
are surely wiser here — they assign to god not only
a man's hmbs, but the use of those hmbs. For they
give him bow, arrows, spear, shield, trident, thunder-
bolt ; and if they cannot see what actions the gods
perfomi, yet they cannot conceive of god as entirely
inactive. Even the Egyptians, whom we laugh at,
deified animals solely on the score of some utiHty
vvhich they derived from them ; for instance, the ibis,
bcing a tall bird with stiff legs and a long horny beak,
destroys a great quantity of snakes : it protects
Egypt from plague, by kiUing and eating the flying
serpents that are brought from the Libyan desert
by the south-west wind, and so preventing them from
harming the natives by their bite while ahve and their
stench when dead. I might describe the utihty of
the ichneumon, the crocodile and the cat, but I do
not wish to be tedious. I will make my point thus :
these animals are at all events deified by the bar-
barians for the benefits which they confer, but your
gods not only do no service that you can point to, but
99
CICERO
102 omniiio. ' Nihil habet ' inquit^ * negotii.' Profecto
Epicurus quasi pueri deUcati nihil cessatione mehus
existimat. XXXVII. At ipsi tamen pueri etiam cum
cessant exercitatione aliqua ludicra delectantur :
deum sic feriatum volumus cessatione torpere ut si
se commoverit vereamur ne beatus esse non possit ?
Haec oratio non modo deos spoliat motu et actione
divina^ sed etiam homines inertis efficit, si quidem
agens aliquid ne deus quidem esse beatus potest.
103 " Verum sit sane ut vultis deus effigies hominis et
imago : quod eius est domicilium, quae sedes, qui
locus, quae deinde actio vitae ? quibus rebus id quod
vultis beatus est ? Utatur enim suis bonis oportet et
fruatur qui beatus futurus est. Nam locus quidem
iis etiam naturis quae sine animis sunt suus est cuique
proprius, ut terra infimum teneat, hanc inundet aqua,
superior aeri, aetheriis' ignibus altissima ora reddatur.
Bestiarum autem terrenae sunt aliae, partim aquatiles,
aliae quasi ancipites in utraque sede viventes ; sunt
quaedam etiam quae igne nasci putentur appareant-
104 queinardentibusfornacibussaepevohtantes. Quaero
igitur vester deus primum ubi habitet, deinde quae
causa eum loco moveat, si modo movetur aliquando,
porro,* cum hoc proprium sit animantium ut ahquid
adpetant quod sit naturae accommodatum, deus quid
^ inquis? (c/. § 109) ed. ' divina secl. Reinhardt.
' superior aeri, aetheriis Milller : superi aetheri B, superi
aether A. * porro Heindorf: postremo.
■ This is stated by Aristotle, Gen. An, iii. 9, Hist. An. v.
19, and Pliny, N.H. xi. 42.
100
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xxxvi.— xxxvii.
02 they don't do anything at all. ' God/ he says, * is free
from trouble.' Obviously Epicurus thinks, as spoilt
children do, that idleness is the best thing there is.
XXX\'II. Yet these very children even vvhen idle
amuse themselves with some active game: are we to
suppose that god enjoys so complete a hohday, and
is so sunk in sloth, that we must fear lest the least
movement may jeopardize his happiness ? This
language not merely robs the gods of the movements
and activities suitable to the divine nature, but also
tends to make men slothful, if even god cannot be
happy when actively employed.
03 " However, granting your view that god is ^he (4)^Bjen ^^^
image and the likeness of man, what is his dwelling- ^imagRs,'
place and local habitation ? in what activities does ^j^^^^^^^y^
he spend his hfe ? what constitutes that happiness the reaiity
which you attribute to him ? For a person who is to l[ S,heif° ^'
be happy must actively enjoy his blessings. As for pxistence aa
locahty, even the inanimate elements each liave their eS-nai
own particular region : earth occupies the lowest t»eings.
place, water covers the earth, to air is assigned the
upper realm, and the ethereal fires occupy the highest
confines of all. Animals again are divided into those
that hve on land and those that Hve in the water,
while a third class are amphibious and dwell in both
regions, and there are also some that are beheved to
be born from fire, and are occasionally seen fluttering
04 about in glowing furnaces.** About your deity there-
fore I want to know, first, where he dwells ; secondly,
what motive he has for moving in space, that is, if
he ever does so move ; thirdly, it being a special
characteristic of animate beings to desire some end
that is appropriate to their nature, what is the thing
that god desires ; fourthly, upon what subject does he
101
CICERO
appetat, ad quam denique rem motu mentis ac ratione
utatur, postremo quo modo beatus sit quo modo
aeternus. Quicquid enim horum attigeris/ ulcus est :
ita male instituta ratio exitum reperire non potest.
105 Sic enim dicebas, speciem dei percipi cogitatione non
sensu, nec esse in ea ullam soliditatem, neque
eandem ad numerum permanere, eamque esse eius
visionem ut similitudine et transitione cernatur neque
deficiat umquam ex infinitis corporibus similium^
accessio, ex eoque fieri ut in haec intenta mens
nostra beatam illam naturam et sempiternam putet.
XXXVIII. Hoc per ipsos deos, de quibus loquimur,
quale tandem est ? Nam si tantum modo ad cogi-
tationem valent nec habent ullam soliditatem nec
eminentiam, quid interest utrum de Hippocentauro
an de deo cogitemus ? omnem enim talem conforma-
tionem animi ceteri philosophi motum inanem vocant,
vos autem adventum in animos et introitum ima-
106 ginum dicitis. Ut igitur^ Ti. Gracchum cum videor
contionantem^ in Capitoho videre de^ M. Octavio
deferentem sitellam tum eum motum animi dico esse
inanem, tu auteln et Gracchi et Octavii imagines re-
manere quae in Capitohum cum pervenerim^ tum ad
animum meum referantur' : hocidem fieri in deo, cuius
crebra facie pellantur animi, ex quo esse beati atque
107 aeterni intellegantur. Fac imagines esse quibus pul-
^ attigeris dett. : attigerit A, B, attigreritis Beid.
2 simihum <imaginum> Goethe.
^ igituTsecl. Madviff. * contionans ? (?(/, ^ <ety de Bouhier,
^ perv^enerim dett. : pervenerint ^ , B. ' deferantur Ernesti,
" i.e., permanent identity: it does not continue one and
the same.
" Perhaps the Latin should be altered to give 'images:
just as, when while making a speech in the Capitol I seem
to see Tiberius Gracchus producing . . .'
102
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xxxvii.— xxxviii.
employ his mental activity and reason ; and lastly,
how is he happy, and how eternal ? For whiehever
of these questions you raise, you touch a tender spot.
An argument based on such insecure premisses can
)5 come to no vaUd conclusion. Your assertion was
that the form of god is perccived by thought and not
by the senses, that it has no sohdity nor numerical
persistence," and that our perception of it is such
that it is seen owing to similarity and succession,
a never-ceasing stream of similar forms arri\ang con-
tinually from the infinite number of atoms, and that
thus it results that our mind, when its attention is
fixed on these fomis, conceives the divine nature to be
happy and eternal. XXXVIII. Xow in the name of
the very gods about whom we are talking, what can
possibly be the meaning of this ? If the gods only
appeal tothefaculty of thought,and have nosoHdity or
definite outhne, what difference does it make whether
we think of a god or of a hippocentaur ? Such mental
pictures are called by all other philosophers mere
empty imaginations, but you say they are the
arrival and entrance into-^ our minds of certain
l)6 images.^ Well then, when I seem to see Tiberius
Gracclms in the middle of his speech in the Capitol
producing the ballot-box for the vote on Marcus
Octavius, I explain this as an empty imagination of
the mind, but your explanation is that the images of
Gracchus and Octavius have actually remained on the
spot, so that when I come to the Capitol these
images are borne to my mind ; the same thing
happens, you say, in the case of god, whose appear-
ance repeatedly impinges on men's minds, and so
gives rise to the behef in happy and eternal deities.
07 Suppose that there are such images constantly im-
103
CICERO
sentur animi : species dumtaxat obicitur quaedam —
num etiam cur ea beata sit cur aeterna ?
" Quae autem istae imagines vestrae aut unde ?
A Democrito omnino haec licentia ; sed et ille
reprehensus a multis est, nec vos exitum reperitis,
totaque res vacillat et claudicat. Nam quid est
quod minus probari possit, quam omnino^ in me
incidere imagines Homeri Archilochi Romuli
Numae Pythagorae Platonis — nedum ea^ forma qua
illi' fuerunt ? Quo modo illae* ergo et quorum
imagines^ ? Orpheum poetam docet Aristoteles num-
quam fuisse, et hoc Orphicum carmen Pythagorei
ferunt cuiusdam fuisse Cercopis ; at Orpheus, id est
imago eius ut vos vultis, in animum meum saepe
108 incurrit. Quid quod eiusdem hominis in meum
aUae, aliae in tuum ? quid quod earum rerum quae
numquam omnino fuerunt neque esse potuerunt,
ut Scyllae, ut Chimaerae ? quid quod hominum
locorum urbium earum quas numquam vidimus ?
quid quod simul ac mihi coUibitum est praesto est
imago ? quid quod etiam ad dormientem veniunt in-
vocatae? Tota res, Vellei, nugatoria est. Vos autem
non modo ocuHs imagines sed etiam animis inculcatis:
109 tanta est inpunitas garriendi. XXXIX. At quam
licenter ! Fluentium frequenter transitio fit visio-
num, ut e multis una videatur. Puderet me dicere non
* quam omnino Reid : quam hominum dett.f omnium
Af B: quam omnium hominum P ed.
2 nedum ea ed. : nec ea jlld., nec ex uss. : nedum Reid.
' ipsi P ed. * illae Reid : illi. ^ imagines secl. Earle.
*• See note on i. 33.
104
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xxxviii.— xxxix.
pinging on our minds : but that is only the presenta-
tion of a certain form — surely not also of a reason for
supposing that this form is happy and eternal ?
" But what is the nature of these images of yours,
and whence do they arise ? This extravagance, it
is true, is borrowed from Democritus ; but he has
been widely criticized, nor can you find a satisfactory
explanation, and the whole affair is a lame and
impotent business. For M'hat can be more improb-
able than that images of Homer, Archilochus,
Romulus, Numa, Pythagoras and Plato should im-
pinge on me at all — much less that they should do
so in the actual shape that those men really bore ?
How then do those images arise ? and of whom are
they the images ? Aristotle ^ tells us that the poet
Orpheus never existed, and the Pythagoreans say
that the Orphic poem which we possess was the work
of a certain Cercops ; yet Orpheus, that is, according
to you, the image of him, often comes into my mind.
108 What of the fact that different images of the same
person enter my mind and yours ? or that images
come to us of things that never existed at all and
never can have existed — for instance, Scylla, and the
Chimaera ? or of people, places and cities which we
have never seen ? What of the fact that I can call
up an image instantaneously, the very moment that
I choose to do so ? or that they come to me unbidden,
even when I am asleep ? Velleius, the whole affair
is humbug. Yet you stamp these images not only
on our eyes but also on our minds — so irresponsibly Jj^J^^^.
109 do you babble. XXXIX. And how extravagantly ! (§ 50)
There is a constant passage or stream of visual ^'faUy
presentations which collectively produce a single prove the
visual impression. I should be ashamed to say that oTman. * ^
105
CICERO
intellegere, si vos ipsi intellegeretis qui ista defenditis.
Quo modo enim probas continenter imagines ferri,
aut si continenter quo modo aeternae ? * Innumera-
bilitas ' inquis^ ' suppeditat atomorum.' Num
eadem ergo ista faciet ut sint omnia sempiterna ?
Confugis ad aequilibritatem (sic enim tcrovo/xtai' si
placet appellemus) et ais quoniam sit natura mortalis
inmortalem etiam esse oportere. Isto modo quoniam
homines mortales sunt sunt^ aliqui inmortales, et
quoniam nascuntur in terra nascuntur^ in aqua.
* Et quia sunt quae interimant, sunt* quae con-
servent.' Sint sane, sed ea^ conservent quae sunt :
110 deos istos esse non sentio. Omnis tamen ista rerum^
effigies ex individuis quo modo corporibus oritur ?
quae etiamsi essent, quae nulla sunt, pellere se ipsa
et agitari' inter se concursu fortasse possent, formare
figurare colorare animare non possent. Nullo igitur
modo inmortalem deum efRcitis.
XL. " Videamus nunc de beato. Sine virtute certe
nuUo modo ; virtus autem actuosa, et deus vester nihil
agens ; expers virtutis igitur ; ita ne beatus quidem.
111 Quae ergo vita ? ' Suppeditatio ' inquis ' bono-
rum nuUo malorum interventu.* Quorum tandem
bonorum ? Voluptatum credo nempe ad corpus
pertinentium : nuUam enim novistis nisi profectam
* inqui^ dett. : inquit A, B. ^ sunt ed. : sint.
^ nascuntur pr. B, dett. : nascantur A.
* sunt dett. : sint A, B. ^ ea : ea quae dett.
* rerum : deorum Goethe. ' agitare det.
" Perhaps Cicero wrote * pictures of the gods.'
106
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xxxix.— xl.
I do not understand the doctrine, if you who maintain
it understood it yourselves ! How can you prove that
the stream of images is continuous, or if it is, how are
the images eternal ? You say that there is an in-
numerable supply of atoms. Are you going to argue
then that everything is eternal, for the same reason ?
You take refuge in the principle of * equihbrium
(for so with your consent we will translate isojwmia),
and you say that because there is mortal substance
there must also be immortal substance. On that
showing, because there are mortal men, there are
also some that are immortal, and because there are
men born on land, there are men born in the
water. ' And because there are forces of destruc-
tion, there are also forces of preservation.' Suppose
there M-ere, they would only preserve things that
ah-eady exist ; but I am not aware that your gods do
110 exist. But be that as it may, how do all your
pictures of obj ects " arise out of the atoms ? even if the
atoms existed, which they do not, they might con-
ceivably be capable of pushing and josthng one
another about by their colhsions, but they could not
create form, shape, colour, hfe. You fail entirely
therefore to prove divine immortality.
XL. " Now let us consider divine happiness.
Happiness is admittedly impossible without virtue. Howcan
But virtue is in its nature active, and your god is go^^i'"^^'
entirely inactive. Therefore he is devoid of virtue. inactivity
111 Therefore he is not happy either. In what then does Sabs^^nce
his hfe consist ? ' In a constant succession of things of virtue),
good,' you reply, ' without any admixture of evils.' pieasuresof
Things good — what things ? Pleasures, I suppose — ^°J®' °^
that is, of course, pleasures of the body, for your constant
school recognizes no pleasures of the mind that do dL^oiution?
107
CICERO
a corpore et redeuntem ad corpus animi voluptatem.
Non arbitror te, Vellei, similem esse Epicureorum
reliquorum^ quos pudeat quarundam Epicuri vocum,
quibus ille testatur se ne intellegere quidem ullum
bonum quod sit seiunctum a delicatis et obscenis
voluptatibus, quas quidem non erubescens perse-
112 quitur omnis nominatim. Quem cibum igitur aut
quas potiones aut quas vocum aut florum^ varietates
aut quos tactus quos odores adhibebis ad deos, ut eos
perfundas voluptatibus ? Et poetae quidem nectar am-
brosiam <que>' <in>* epulas conparant et aut luventa-
tem aut Ganymedem pocula ministrantem, tu autem,
Epicure, quid facies ? neque enim unde habeat ista
deus tuus video nec quo modo utatur. Locupletior
igitur hominum natura ad beate vivendum est quam
deorum, quod pluribus generibus fruitur voluptatum.
113 At has leviores ducis voluptates, quibus quasi
titillatio (Epicuri enim hoc verbum est) adhibetur
sensibus. Quousque ludis ? Nam etiam Philo
noster ferre non poterat aspernari Epicureos molhs
et delicatas voluptates ; summa enim memoria
pronuntiabat plurimas Epicuri sententias iis ipsis
verbis quibus erant scriptae ; Metrodori vero,
qui est Epicuri collega sapientiae, multa^ inpuden-
tiora recitabat : accusat enim Timocratem fratrem
suum Metrodorus quod dubitet omnia quae ad
beatam vitam pertineant ventre metiri, neque id
semel dicit sed saepius. Adnuere te video, nota
enim tibi sunt ; proferrem libros si negares. Neque
^ aliquorum Bouhier. " colorum Walker,
» add. Vict. * add. Reid.
^ multo f Plasberg.
** His phrase was yapyaXiapiol ffw/Aaroj (Athenaeus xii. 546).
108
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xl.
not arise from and come back to the body. I don't
suppose that you, Velleius, are hke the rest of the
Epicureans, ^vho are ashamed of certain utterances
of Epicurus, in which he protests that he cannot con-
ceive any good that is unconnected with the pleasures
of the voluptuary and the sensuahst, pleasures which
in fact he proceeds \vithout a blush to enumerate by
12 name. Well then, what viands and beverages, \vhat
harmonies of music and flowers of various hue, what
dehghts of touch and smell will you assign to the gods,
so as to keep them steeped in pleasure ? The poets
array banquets of nectar and ambrosia, with Hebe or
Ganymede in attendance as cup-bearer ; but what
will you do, Epicurean ? I don't see either where
your god is to procure these delights or how he is to
enjoy them. It appears then that mankind is more
bountifully equipped for happiness than is the deity,
since man can experience a wider range of pleasures.
13 You tell me that you consider these pleasures in-
ferior, which merely 'tickle ' the senses (the expression
is that of Epicurus"). When will you cease jesting ?
Why, even our friend Philo was impatient with the
Epicureans for affecting to despise the pleasures of
sensual indulgence ; for he had an excellent memory
and could quote verbatim a number of maxims from
the actual writings of Epicurus. As for Metro-
dorus, Epicurus's co-partner in philosophy, he sup-
phed him with many still more outspoken (juotations ;
in fact Metrodorus takes his brother Timocrates to
task for hesitating to measure every element of happi-
ness by the standard of the belly, nor is this an
isolated utterance, but he repeats it several times.
I see you nod your assent, as you are acquainted with
the passages ; and did you deny it, I would produce
109
CICERO
nunc reprehendo quod ad voluptatem omnia referan-
tur (alia est ea quaestio), sed doceo deos vestros esse
voluptatis expertes, ita vestroiudicio ne beatos quidem .
114 XLI. ' At dolore vacant.* Satin est id ad illam
abundantem bonis vitam beatissimam ? * Cogitat '
inquiunt * adsidue beatum esse se ; habet enim
nihil aUud quod agitet in mente.' Conprehende igitur
animo et propone ante oculos deum nihil aHud in
omni aeternitate nisi ' Mihi pulchre est ' et ' Ego
beatus sum ' cogitantem. Nec tamen video quo
modo non vereatur iste deus beatus ne intereat,
cum sine ulla intermissione pulsetur agiteturque
atomorum incursione sempiterna, cumque ex ipso
imagines semper afluant. Ita nec beatus est vester
deus nec aeternus.
115 " * At etiam de sanctitate, de pietate adversus deos
hbros scripsit Epicurus.' At quo modo in his loqui-
tur ? Ut T. Coruncanium aut P. Scaevolam ponti-
fices maximos te audire dicas, non eum qui sustu-
lerit omnem funditus rehgionem nec manibus ut
Xerxes sed rationibus deorum inmortahum templa
et aras everterit. Quid est enim, cur deos ab homi-
nibus colendos dicas, cum dei non modo homines non
116 colant^ sed omnino nihil curent nihil agant ? ' At
est eorum eximia quaedam praestansque natura,
ut ea debeat ipsa per se ad se colendam alhcere
sapientem.' An quicquam eximium potest esse in
1 hominibus non consnlanL Manutius.
•» Diogenes Laertius x. 2\) mentions a treatise of Epicurus
Jlepl oaioT-rjTOS.
" The Latin runs 'do not worship men,' and perhaps
should be altered to give, ' do not study mcn's interests.'
110
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xl.— xli.
the volumes. Not that I am at the moment criticiz-
ing your making pleasure the sole standard of value —
that belongs to another inquiry. What I am trying
to prove is that your gods are incapable of pleasure,
and therefore by your verdict can have no happiness
4 either. XLI. * But they are free from pain.' Does
that satisfy the ideal of perfect bhss, overflowing
with good things ? ' God is engaged (they say) in
ceaseless contemplation of his own happiness, for he
has no other object for his thoughts.' I beg of you
to reahze in your imagination a vivid picture of a
deity solely occupied for all eternity in reflecting
' What a good time I am having ! How happy I
am ! ' And yet I can't see how this happy god of
yours is not to fear destruction, since he is subjected
without a moment's respite to the buffeting and
josthng of a horde of atoms that eternally assail him,
while from his own person a ceaseless stream of
images is given off. Your god is therefore neither
happy nor eternal.
5 " * Yes, but Epicurus actually >\Tote books about (5) Epi-
hohness'* and piety.' But what is the language of p"Jfncipies
these books ? Such that you think you are hstening leaiiy fata,
to a Coruncanius or a Scaevola, high priests, not to °
the man who destroyed the very foundations of
rehgion, and overthrew — not by main force hke
Xerxes, but by argument — the temples and the
altars of the immortal gods. Why, what reason have
you for maintaining that men owe worship to the
gods, if the gods not only pay no respect to men,^ but
L6 care for nothing and do nothing at all ? ' But deity
possesses an excellence and pre-eminence Avhich must
of its ovm. nature attract the worship of the wise.*
Now how can there be any excellence in a being so
111
CICERO
ea natura quae sua voluptate laetans nihil nec actura
sit umquam neque agat neque egerit ? quae porro
pietas ei debetur a quo nihil acceperis ? aut quid
omnino cuius nullum meritum sit ei deberi potest ?
Est enim pietas iustitia adversum deos ; cum quibus
quid potest nobis esse iuris, cum homini nulla cum
deo sit communitas ? Sanctitas autem est scientia
colendorum deorum ; qui quam ob rem colendi sint
non intellego nullo nec accepto ab iis nec sperato
117 bono. XLII. Quid est autem quod deos veneremur
propter admirationem eius naturae in qua egregium
nihil videmus^ ?
" Nam superstitione, quod gloriari soletis, facile
est liberari cum sustuleris omnem vim deorum ; nisi
forte Diagoram aut Theodorum qui omnino deos esse
negabant censes superstitiosos esse potuisse ; ego
ne Protagoram quidem, cui neutrum licuerit, nec esse
deos nec non esse. Horum enim sententiae omnium
non modo superstitionem tollunt in qua inest timor
inanis deorum, sed etiam reUgionem quae deormn
118 cultu pio continetur. Quid, ii qui dixerunt totam
de dis inmortahbus opinionem fictam esse ab homini-
bus sapientibus rei pubhcae causa, ut quos ratio non
posset eos ad officium rehgio duceret, nonne omnem
rehgionem funditus sustulerunt ? Quid, Prodicus
Cius, qui ea quae prodessent hominum vitae deorum
* videamus Alan.
IIS
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xli.— xlii.
engrossed in the delights of his own pleasure that he
always has been, is, and will continue to be entirely
idle and inactive ? Furthermore how can you owe
piety to a person who has bestowed nothing upon you ?
or how can you owe anything at all to one who has
done you no service ? Piety is justice towards the
gods ; but how can any claims of justice exist be-
tween us and them, if god and man have nothing in
common ? HoHness is the science of divine worship ;
but I fail to see why the gods should be worshipped
if we neither have received nor hope to receive benefit
17 from them. XLII. On the other hand what reason
is there for adoring the gods on the ground of our
admiration for the divine nature, if we cannot see
that that nature possesses any special excellence ?
" As for freedom from superstition, which is the
favourite boast of your school, that is easy to attain
when you have deprived the gods of all power ; unless
perchance you think that it was possible for Diagoras
or Theodorus to be superstitious, who denied the
existence of the gods altogether. For my part, I
don't see how it was possible even for Protagoras,
who was not certain either that the gods exist or that
they do not. For the doctrines of all these thinkers
abohsh not only superstition, which implies a ground-
less fear of the gods, but also rehgion, which consists
8 in piously worshipping them. Take again those who
have asserted that the entire notion of the immortal
gods is a fiction invented by wise men in the interest of
the state, to the end that those whom reason was
powerless to control might be led in the path of
duty by rehgion ; surely this view was absolutely and
entirely destructive of rcHgion. Or Prodicus of Cos,
who said that the gods were personifications of things
113
CICERO
m numero habita esse dixit, quam tandem religionem
119 reliquit ? Quid, qui aut fortis aut claros aut potentis
viros tradunt post mortem ad deos pervenisse, eos-
que esse ipsos quos nos colere precari venerarique
soleamus, nonne expertes sunt religionum omnium ?
quae ratio maxime tractata ab Euhemero est, quem
noster et interpretatus et secutus est praeter ceteros
Ennius ; ab Euhemero autem et mortes et sepul-
turae demonstrantur deorum ; utrum igitur hic con-
firmasse videtur rehgionem an penitus totam sus-
tuhsse? Omitto Eleusinem sanctam illam et
augustam,
ubi initiantur gentes orarum ultimae,
praetereo Samothraciam eaque quae Lemni
nocturno aditu occulta coluntur
silvestribus saepibus densa,
quibus explicatis ad rationemque revocatis rerum
magis natura cognoscitur quam deorum.
120 XLIII. " Mihi quidem etiam Democritus vir
magnus in primis, cuius fontibus Epicurus hortulos
suos inrigavit, nutare videtur in natura deorum.
Tum enim censet imagines divinitate praeditas in-
esse in universitate rerum, tum principia mentis quae
sint^ in eodem universo deos esse dicit, tum ani-
mantes imagines quae vel prodesse nobis soleant^ vel
* sint Helndorf : sunt. ^ soleant dett. : solent A^ B.
" The source of this verse is unknown.
* Probably from the Philoctetes of Attius.
114
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xlii.— xliii.
bencficial to the life of man — pray what religion was
9 left by his theory ? Or those who teach that brave
or famous or powerful men have been deified after
death, and that it is these who are the real objects
of the M'orship, prayers and adoration which we are
accustomed to oflTer — are not they entirely devoid
of all sense of rehgion ? This theory was chiefly
developed by Euhemerus, who was translated and
imitated especially by our poet Knnius. Yet Eu-
hemerus describes the death and burial of certain
gods ; are we then to think of him as uphoiding
reiigion, or rather as utterly and entirely destroy-
ing it ? I say nothing of tlie holy and av/e-inspiring
sanctuary of Eleusis,
Where tribes from earth's remotest confines seek
Initiation,"
and I pass over Samothrace and those
occult mysteries
Which throngs of worshippers at dead of night
In forest coverts deep do celebrate ^*
at Lemnos, since such mysteries when interpreted
and rationahzed prove to have more to do with natural
science than with theologv.
XLIII. " For my own part I believe that even that Democritus
very eminent man Democritus, the fountain-head Ja^? n? ^
from which Epicurus derived the streams that watered theoiogy.
his little garden, has no fixed opinion about the nature
of the gods. At one moment he holds the view that
the universe includes images endowed with di\ inity ;
at another he says that there exist in this same uni-
verse the elements from which the mind is com-
pounded, and that these are gods ; at another, that
they are animate images, which are wont to exercise
a beneficent or harmful influence over us ; and again
115
CICERO
nocere, tum ingentis quasdam imagines tantasque
ut universum mundum conplectantur extrinsecus.
Quae quidem omnia sunt patria Democriti quam
121 Democrito digniora ; quis enim istas imagines con-
prehendere animo potest, quis admirari, quis aut
cultu aut religione dignas iudicare ?
" Epicurus vero ex animis hominum extraxit radici-
tus rehgionem cum dis inmortahbus et opem et
gratiam sustuUt. Cum enim optimam et praestan-
tissimam naturam dei dicat esse, negat idem esse
in deo gratiam : toUit id quod maxime proprium
est optimae praestantissimaeque naturae. Quid
enim mehus aut quid praestantius bonitate et bene-
ficentia ? Qua cum carere deum vultis, neminem
deo nec deum nec hominem carum,^ neminem ab eo
amari, neminem diligi vultis. Ita fit ut non modo
homines a deis sed ipsi dei inter se [ab ahis alii]*^
neglegantur. XLIV. Quanto Stoici mehus, qui a
vobis reprehenduntur : censent autem sapientes
sapientibus etiam ignotis esse amicos ; nihil est
enim virtute amabilius,quam qui adeptus erit.ubicum-
122 que erit gentium a nobis dihgetur. Vos autem quid
maU datis cum <in>^ inbeciUitate gratificationem et
benivolentiam ponitis ! Ut enim omittam vim et
naturam deorum, ne homines quidem censetis nisi in-
beciUi essent futuros beneficos et benignos fuisse }
NuUa est caritas naturaUs inter bonos ? Carum
^ caruin<esse> ? ed. * Cobet. ' Lambinus»
" In the actual teaching of Democritus these scattered
doctrines forined a consistcnt whole : the basis of the world
is particles of divine fire, floating in space; groups of them
form deities, vast beings of long hfe but not everlasting;
some of the particles floating off from these enter the mind,
116
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xUii.— xliv.
that they are certain vast images of such a size as
to envelop and enfold the entire world." All these
fancies are more worthy of Democritus's native city^
.21 than of himself ; for who could form a mental picture
of such images ? who could adore them and deem
them worthy of worship or reverence ?
" Epicurus however, in abohshing divine benefi- Epicurean-
cence and divine benevolence, uprooted and exter- d™inla'^
minated all rehgion from the human heart. For decries
while asserting the supreme goodness and excellence benevo-
of the divine nature, he yet denies to god the attri- ^^^^
bute of benevolence — that is to say, he does away
with that which is the most essential element of
supreme goodness and excellence. For what can be
better or more excellent than kindness and bene-
ficence ? Make out god to be devoid of either, and
you make him devoid of all love, affection or esteem
for any other being, human or divine. It follows not
merely that the gods do not care for mankind, but
that tiiey have no care for one another. XLIV, How
much more truth there is in the Stoics, whom you
censure ! They hold that all wise men are friends,
even when strangers to each other, since nothing is
more lovable than virtue, and he that attains to it
will have our estecm in whatever country he dwells.
[22 But as for you, what mischief you cause when you
reckon kindness and benevolence as weaknesses !
Apart altogether from the nature and attributes of
deity, do you think that even human beneficcnce and
benignity aresolely dueto human infirmity? Isthere no
natural affection between the good ? There is some-
itself composed of similar particles, and give us knowledge
of the gods.
' Abdera in Thrace had a reputation for stupidity.
117
CICERO
ipsum verbum est amoris, ex quo amicitiae nomen
est ductum ; quam si ad fructum nostrum refere-
mus^ non ad illius commoda quem diligimus,^ non
erit ista amicitia sed mercatura quaedam utilitatum
suarum. Prata et arva et pecudum greges diliguntur
isto modo, quod fructus ex iis capiuntur. hominum
caritas et amicitia gratuita est ; quanto igitur magis
deorum, qui nulla re egentes et inter se diligunt et
hominibus consulunt. Quod^ ni* ita est,^ quid venera-
mur quid precamur deos, cur sacris pontifices cur
auspiciis augures praesunt, quid optamus a deis in-
mortalibus, quid vovemus ? * At etiam liber est
123 Epicuri de sanctitate.' Ludimur ab homine non
tam faceto quam ad scribendi licentiam hbero.
Quae enim potest esse sanctitas si dei humana non
curant, quae autem animans natura nihil curans ?
" Verius est igitur nimirum illud quod familiaris
omnium nostrum Posidonius disseruit in Ubro quinto
de natura deorum, nullos esse deos Epicuro videri,
quaeque is de deis inmortalibus dixerit invidiae
detestandae gratia dixisse ; neque enim tam de-
sipiens fuisset ut homunculi similem deum fingeret,
liniamentis dumtaxat extremis non habitu sohdo,
membris hominis praeditum omnibus usu membrorum
ne minimo quidem, exilem quendam atque perluci-
dum, nihil cuiquam tribuentem nihil gratificantem,
1 referemus A : referiinus pr. B,
2 dilifz-imus dett. : dilifremus.
^ quod Mayor : quid.
* ni dett. : ne Ay B. ' est ? Mayor : sit
118
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xliv.
thing attractive in the very sound of the word * love/
from which the Latin term for friendship is derived.
If we base our friendship on its profit to ourselves,
and not on its advantage to those whom we love,
it will not be friendship at all, but a mere bartering
of sehlsh interests. That is our standard of value for
meadows and fields and herds of cattle : we esteem
them for the profits that we derive from them ;
but affection and friendship between men is disin-
terested ; how much more so thercfore is that of the
gods, who, although in need of nothing, yet both love
each other and care for the interests ot men. If this
be not 80, why do we worship and pray to them ?
why have pontiffs and augurs to preside over our sacri-
fices and auspices } w^hy make petitions and vow
offerings to heaven } ' VVhy, but Epicurus (you tell
53 me) actually wrote a treatise on hohness.' Epicurus Epicums
is making fun of us, though he is not so much a ^^^jg^y^^o
humorist as a loose and careless writer. For how can avoid
hohness exist if the gods pay no heed to man's oduim^^
affairs ? Yet what is the meaning of an animate
being that pays no heed to anything ?
" It is doubtless therefore truer to say, as the good
friend of us all, Posidonius, argued in the fifth book
of his On the Nature of the Gods, that Epicurus does
not really beheve in the gods at all, and that he said
what he did about the immortal gods only for the
sake of deprecating popular odium. Indeed he could
not have been so senseless as really to imagine god to
be hke a feeble human being, but resembhng him
only in outhne and surface, not in sohd substance,
and possessing all man's hmbs but entirely incapable
of using them, an emaciated and transparent being,
showing no kindness or beneficence to anybody,
119
CICERO
omnino nihil curantem nihil agentem. Quae natura
primum nulla esse potest, idque videns Epicurus re
124 tolHt oratione reUnquit deos ; deinde si maxime
talis est deus ut nulla gratia nuUa hominum caritate
teneatur, valeat — quid enim dicam ' propitius sit ' ?
esse enim propitius potest nemini, quoniam ut
dicitis omnis in inbecillitate est et gratia et caritas."
• The formula of ceremonious farewell to a deity, in con-
trast with vale, used in taking leave of a human being.
120
DE NATURA DEORUM, I. xliv.
caring for nothing and doing nothing at all. In
the first place, a being of this nature is an absolute
impossibihty, and Epicurus was aware of this, and
so actually abohshes the gods, although professedly
124 retaining thera. Secondly, even if god exists, yet is
of such a nature that he feels no benevolence or
affection towards men, good-bye to him, say I — not
' God be gracious to me,' " why should I say that ?
for he cannot be gracious to anybody, since, as you
tell us, all benevolence and affection is a mark of
weakness."
121
LIBER SECUNDUS
1 I. Quae cum Cotta dixisset, tum Velleius " Ne
ego " inquit " incautus qui cum Academico et eodem
rhetore congredi conatus sim. Nam neque indi-
sertum Academicum pertimuissem nec sine ista
philosophia rhetorem quamvis eloquentem ; neque
enim flumine conturbor inanium verborum, nec
subtiUtate sententiarum si orationis est siccitas.
Tu autem Cotta utraque re valuisti ; corona tibi
et iudices defuerunt. Sed ad ista ahas : nunc
Lucilium, si ipsi commodum est, audiamus."
2 Tum Balbus : " Eundem equidem mahm audire
Cottam, dum qua eloquentia falsos deos sustulit
eadem veros inducat. Est enim et philosophi et
pontificis et Cottae de dis inmortahbus habere non
errantem et vagam ut Academici sed ut nostri
stabilem certamque sententiam. Nam contra Epi-
curum satis superque dictum est. Sed aveo audire
tu ipse Cotta quid sentias."
" An " inquit " obhtus es quid initio dixerim,
faciUus me, talibus praesertim de rebus, quid non
• The Academic logic was famous.
122
BOOK II
1 I. Cotta having thus spoken, Velleius replied. Exposition
" I am indeed a rash person," he said, " to attempt to t^S'^
join issue \vith a pupil of the Academy " who is also a undertaken
trained orator. An Academic unversed in rhetoric Baibus!''"^
I should not have been much afraid of, nor yet an
orator however eloquent who was not reinforced by
that system of philosophy ; for I am not disconcerted
by a mere stream of empty verbiage, nor yet by
subtlety of thought if expressed in a jejune style.
You however, Cotta, were strong in both points ; you
only lacked a pubhc audience and a jury to hsten to
you. But my answer to your arguments may wait
until another time ; let us now hear Lucihus, if he
himself is agreeable."
2 " For my part," rejoined Balbus, " I had rather
hsten to Cotta again, using the same eloquence that
he employed in abohshing false gods to present a
picture of the true ones. A philosopher, a pontiff and
a Cotta should possess not a shifting and unsettled
conception of the immortal gods, hke the Academics,
but a firm and definite one like our school. As for
refuting Epicurus, that has been accomphshed and
more than accomplished already. But I am eager to
hear what you tliink yourself, Cotta."
" Have you forgotten," said Cotta, " what I said
at the outset, that I find it more easy, especially on
123
CICERO
3 sentirem quam quid sentirem posse dicere ? Quodsi
haberem aliquid quod liqueret, tamen te vicissim
audire vellem, cum ipse tam multa dixissem."
Tum Balbus : " Geram tibi morem ; et agam
quam brevissume potero, etenim convictis Epicuri
erroribus longa de mea disputatione detracta oratio
est. Omnino dividunt nostri totam istam de dis
inmortalibus quaestionem in partis quattuor : pri-
mum docent esse deos, deinde quales sint, tum
mundum ab iis administrari, postremo consulere
eos rebus humanis. Nos autem hoc sermone quae
priora duo sunt sumamus ; tertium et quartum, quia
maiora sunt, puto esse in aliud tempus differenda."
** Minime vero " inquit Cotta ; " nam et otiosi
sumus et iis de rebus agimus quae sunt etiam negotiis
anteponendae."
4 II. Tum Lucilius " Ne egere quidem videtur "
inquit " oratione prima pars. Quid enim potest esse
tam apertum tamque perspicuum, cum caelum su-
speximus caelestiaque contemplati sumus, quam esse
aliquod numen praestantissimae mentis quo haec
regantur ? Quod ni ita esset, qui potuisset adsensu
omnium dicere Ennius :
Aspice hoc sublime candens, quem invocant omnes lovem,
illum vero et lovem et dominatorem rerum et omnia
nutu regentem et, ut idem Ennius,
patrem divumque hominumque,
124
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. i.— ii.
such subjects as these, to say what I don't think than
3 what I do ? Even if I had any clear view, I should
still prefer to hear you speak in your turn, now that
I have said so much myself."
" Well," repHed Balbus, " I will yield to your wish ;
and I shall be as brief as I can, for indeed when the
errors of Epicurus have been refuted, my argument
is robbed of all occasion for prohxity. To take a Dinsion of
general view, the topic of the immortal gods which StVtiur'
you raise is divided by our school into four parts : partc.
first they prove that the gods exist ; next they ex-
plain their nature ; then they show that the world
is governed by them ; and lastly that they care for the
fortunes of mankind. In our present discourse how-
ever let us take the first two of these heads; the third
and fourth, being questions of greater magnitude,
had better I think be put off to another time."
" No, no," cried Cotta, '• we are at leisure now, and
moreover the subjects which we are discussing might
fitly claim precedence even of matters of business."
4 II. " The first point," resumed Lucihus, " seems i. Proofof
not even to require arguing. For when we gaze up- exfstelTce*
ward to the sky and contemplate the heavenly bodies, (§§ 4-44).
what can be so obvious and so manifest as tliat there io^s' e^xist-
must exist some power possessincr transcendent in- '^.^^^ proved
X ± o Ironi obs6rv«
teUigence by whom these things are ruled ? Were ation of tha
it not so, how comes it that the words of Ennius carry '^"^^^'«^ i
conviction to all readers —
Behold this dazzling vault of heaven, which all mankind
as Jove invoke,
ay, and not only as Jove but as sovereign of the
world, ruhng all things with his nod, and as Ennius
hkewise says —
father of gods and men,
F 125
CICERO
et praesentem ac praepotentem deum ? Quod qui
dubitet, haud sane intellego cur non idem sol sit an
6 nullus sit dubitare possit ; qui enim est hoc illo
evidentius ? Quod nisi cognitum conprehensumque
animis haberemus, non tam stabiUs opinio per-
maneret nec confirmaretur diuturnitate temporis nec
una cum saechs aetatibusque hominum inveterari
potuisset. Etenim videmus ceteras opiniones fictas
atque vanas diuturnitate extabuisse. Quis enim
Hippocentaurum fuisse aut Chimaeram putat, quae-
ve anus tam excors inveniri potest quae illa quae quon-
dam credebantur apud inferos portenta extimescat ?
Opinionis^ enim commenta delet dies. naturae iudicia
confirmat.
** Itaque et in nostro populo et in ceteris deorum
cultus religionumque sanctitates exsistunt in dies
6 maiores atque meliores, idque evenit non temere
nec casu, sed quod et praesentes saepe di vim suam
declarant, ut et apud Regillum bello Latinorum, cum
A. PostumiusdictatorcumOctavio MamiHoTusculano
proeHo dimicaret, in nostra acie Castor et Pollux ex
equis pugnare visi sunt, et recentiore memoria iidem
Tyndaridae Persem victum nuntiaverunt. P. enim
Vatinius, avus huius adulescentis, cum e^ praefectura
Reatina Romam venienti noctu duo iuvenes cum
equis albis dixissent regem Persem illo die captum,
* opinionis det. : -ne A, B, -num B corr,
2 <ei> e Heindorf.
126
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. ii.
a deity omnipresent and omnipotent ? If a man
doubts this, I really cannot see why he should not
also be capable of doubting the existence of tlie sun ;
6 how is the hitter fact more evident than the former ? [^^^g^^°™
Nothing but the presence in our minds of a firmly sensns of
grasped concept of the deity could account for the mankmd ;
stabiHty and permanence of our behef in him, a
behef which is only strengthened by the passage of
the ages and grows more deeply rooted with each
successive generation of mankind. In every other
case we see that fictitious and unfounded opinions
have dwindled away with lapse of time. Who be-
heves that the Hippocentaur or the Chimaera ever
existed ? Where can you find an old wife senseless
enough to be afraid of the monsters of the lower
world that were once beheved in ? The years obhter-
ate the inventions of the imagination, but confirm the
judgements of nature.
" Hence bothinourown nation and among allothers
reverence for the gods and respect for rehgion grow
6 continually stronger and more profound. Nor is this (3) from
unaccountable or accidental ; it is the result, firstly, epiphanies;
of the fact that the gods often manifest their power
in bodily presence. For instance in the Latin War,
at the critical battle of Lake Regillus between the
dictator Aulus Postumius and Octavius Mamihus of
Tusculum, Castor and PoUux were seen fighting on
horseback in our ranks. And in more modern history
hkewise these sons of Tyndareus brought the news
of the defeat of Perses. What happened was that
Pubhus Vatinius, the grandfather of our young con-
temporary, was returning to Rome by night from
Reate, of which he was governor, when he was in-
formed by two young warriors on white horses that
127
CICERO
<cuin>^ senatui^ nuntiavisset,^ primo quasi temere
de re publica locutus in carcerem coniectus est, post
a Paulo litteris allatis cum idem dies constitisset, et
agro a senatu et vacatione donatus est. Atque etiara
cum ad fluvium Sagram Crotoniatas Locri maximo
proelio devicissent, eo ipso die auditam esse eam
pugnam ludis Olympiae memoriae proditum est.
Saepe Faunorum voces exauditae, saepe visae formae
deorum quemvis non aut hebetem aut impium deos
praesentes esse confiteri coegerunt.
7 III. " Praedictiones vero et praesensiones rerum
futurarum quid aliud declarant nisi hominibus* ea
quae futura^ sint ostendi monstrari portendi prae-
dici ? ex quo illa ostenta monstra portenta prodigia
dicuntur. Quodsi ea* ficta credimus hcentia fabu-
larum, Mopsum Tiresiam Amphiaraum Calchantem
Helenum (quos tamen augures ne ipsae quidem
fabulae adscivissent si res omnino repudiaret), ne
domesticis quidem exempHs docti numen deorum
conprobabimus ? Nihil nos P. Claudi bello Punico
primo temeritas movebit ? qui etiam per iocum deos
Inridens, cum cavea Hberati pulh non pascerentur
mergi eos in aquam iussit, ut biberent quoniam esse
nollent ; qui risus classe devicta multas ipsi lacrimas,
* add. Vahlen. ^ senatuique dett.
* nuntiavit ct det. * hominibus <divinitus> Brieger,
* futura om. Ay B (quae . . . sint om. edd.).
• externa lleindorf.
12S
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. ii.— iii.
King Pcrses had that very day been taken prisoner.
Whcn Vatinius can-ied the news to the Senate, at
first he was flung into gaol on the charge of spreading
an unfoundcd report on a niatter of national concern ;
but afterwards a dispatcli arrived from Pauhis, and
the date was found to tally, so the Senate bestowed
upon Vatinius both a grant of land and exemption
from mihtary service. It is also recorded in history
that when the Locrians v.on their great victory over
the people of Crotona at the important battle of the
River Sagra, news of the engagement was reported
at the Olympic Games on the very same day. Often
has the sound of the voices of the Fauns, often has
the apparition of a di\"ine form compelled anyone
that is not either feeble-minded or impious to admit
tlie real presence of the gods.
III. " Again,prophecies and premonitions of future (4) from the
events cannot but be taken as proofs that the future dlvL^ation,
may appear or be foretokl as a warning or portended
or predicted to mankind — hence the very words
' apparition,' * warning,' * portcnt,' ' prodigy.' Even
if we think that the stories of Mopsus, Tiresias,
Amphiaraus, Calchas and Helenus are mere baseless
fictions of romance (though their powers of divination
would not even have been incorporated in the legends
had they been entirely repugnant to fact), shall not
even the instances from our own native history teach
us to acknowledge the divine power ? shall we be
unmoved by the story of the recklessness of Pubhus
Claudius in the first Punic War ? Claudius merely
in jest mocked at the gods : when the chickens on
being released from their cage refuscd to feed, he
ordered them to be thrown into the water, so that as
they would not eat they might drink ; but the joke
129
CICERO
magnam populo Romano cladem attulit. Quid ?
collega eius lunius eodem bello nonne tempestate
classem amisit cum auspiciis non paruisset ? Itaque
Claudius a populo condemnatus est, lunius necem
8 sibi ipse conscivit. C. Flaminium Caelius religione
neglecta cecidisse apud Trasumenum scribit cum
magno rei publicae vulnere. Quorum exitio intellegi
potest eorum imperiis rem publicam amplificatam
qui religionibus paruissent. Et si conferre volumus
nostra cum externis, ceteris rebus aut pares aut
etiam inferiores reperiemur, religione id est cultu
9 deorum multo superiores. An Atti Na\-ii lituus
ille, quo ad investigandum suem regiones vineae ter-
minavit, contemnendus est ? Crederem, nisi eius
augurio rex Hostilius maxima bella gessisset. Sed
neglegentianobilitatis augurii disciplina omissa veritas
auspiciorum spreta est. species tantum retenta ; ita-
que maximae rei publicae partes, in his bella quibus
rei publicae salus continetur, nullis auspiciis admini-
strantur, nulla peremnia servantur, nulla ex acumini-
bus, nuUa cum^ viri vocantur (ex quo in procinctu
^ nulla cum Schdmann : nulli.
" Cicero's memory has played him false over suem and
uvam. In Liv. i. 3, ii. 80, he says Attus (in the reign of
Tar(|uinius Priscus) had vowed to the Lares the largestbunch
of grapes in his vineyard if he found a strayed pig. He
foiiud it, and then discovered by augury in which quarter
of the vineyard to look for the largest bunch.
130
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. iii.
cost the jester himself many tears and the Roman
people a great disaster, for the fleet was severely
defeated. Moreover did not his coUeague Juniiis
during the same war lose his fleet in a storm after
faihng to comply with the auspices ? In consequence
of these disasters Claudius was tried and condemned
for high treason and Junius committed suicide.
1 Caehus writes that Gaius Flaminius after ignoring
the claims of religion fell at the battle of Trasimene,
when a serious blow was inflicted on the state. The
fate of these men may serve to indicate that our
empire was won by those commanders w^ho obeyed
the dictates of rehgion. Moreover if we care to
compare our national cliaracteristics with those of
foreign peoples, we shall flnd that, while in all other
respects we are only the equals or even the inferiors
of others, yet In the sense of rehgion, that is, in
) reverence for the gods, we are far superior. Or are
we to make ho;ht of the famous auffural staff of Attus
Navius, wherewith he marked out the vineyard into
sections for the purpose of discovering the pig <^ ? I
would agree that we might do so, had not King
HostiUus fought great and glorious wars under the
guidance of Attus's augury. But owing to the care-
lessness of our nobihty the augural lore has been for-
gotten, and the reahty of the auspices has fallen into
contempt, only the outward show being retained ;
and in consequence highly important departments of
pubhc administration, and in particular the conduct
of wars upon which the safety of the state depends,
are carried on without any auspices at all ; no taking
of omens when crossing rivers, none when hghts
flash from the points of the javehns, none when men
are called tc ai-ras (owing to which wiils made on
131
CICERO
testamenta perierunt, tum enim bella gerere nostri
10 duces incipiunt cum auspicia posuerunt). At vero
apud maiores tanta religionis vis fuit ut quidam im-
peratores etiam se ipsos dis inmortalibus capite velato
verbis certis pro re publica devoverent. Multa ex
Sibyllinis vaticinationibus multa ex haruspicum re-
sponsis commemorare possum quibus ea confirmen-
tur quae dubia nemini debent esse. IV. Atqui
et nostrorum augurum et Etruscorum haruspicum
disciplinam P. Scipione^ C. Figulo consulibus res ipsa
probavit ; quos cum Ti. Gracchus consul iterum
crearet, primus rogator ut eos rettuHt ibidem est
repente mortuus. Gracchus cum comitia nihilo
minus peregisset remque illam in rehgionem populo
venisse sentiret, ad senatum rettuht. Senatus ' quos
ad soleret ' referendum censuit. Haruspices intro-
ducti responderunt non fuisse iustum comitiorum
11 rogatorem. Tum Gracchus, ut e patre audiebam,
incensus ira : ' Itane vero ? ego non iustus, qui et
consul rogavi et augur et auspicato ? an vos Tusci ae
barbari auspiciorum popuh Romani ius tenetis et
interpretes esse comitiorum potestis ? ' Itaque tum
illos exire iussit ; post autem e provincia litteras ad
collegium misit se cum legeret hbros recordatum esse
^ <in> P. Scipione <et> Bouhler.
° The Etruscans diffcred from the Graeco-Italic races in
cii^-toms, rehgion, and language.
132
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. iii.— iv.
active service have gone out of existence, since our
generals only enter on their mihtary command
when they have laid do^\Ti their augural powers).
10 But among our ancestors rehgion was so powerful
that some commanders actually offered themsclves
as victims to the immortal gods on behalf of the
state, veihng their heads and formally vo^lng them-
selves to death. I could quote numerous passages
from the Sibyhine prophecies and from the oracles
of soothsayers in confirmation of facts that no one
really ought to question. IV. Why, in the consul-
ship of Publius Scipio and Gaius Figulus both our
Roman augural lore and that of the Etruscan sooth-
sayers were confirmed by the evidence of actual fact.
Tiberius Gracchus, then consul for the second timc,
was holding the election of his successors. The first
returning officer in the very act of reporting the
persons named as elected suddenly fell dead. Grac-
chus nevertheless proceeded with the election. Per-
ceiving that the scruples of the pubhc had been
aroused by the occurrence, he referred the matter to
the Senate. The Senate voted that it be referred
* to the customary ofiicials.' Soothsayers were sent
for, and pronounced that the returning officer for the
11 clectionshadnotbeeninorder. ThereuponGracchus,
so my father used to tell me, burst into a rage.
' How now } ' he cried, ' was I not in order ? I put
the names to the vote as consul, as augur, and with
aus]^ices taken. Who are you, Tuscan barbarians," to
know the Roman constitution, and to be able to lay
down the law as to our elections .'' ' And accordingly
he then sent them about their business. Afterwards
however he sent a dispatch fron\ his province to the
CoUege of Augurs to say that while reading the sacrcd
133
CICERO
vitio sibi tabernaculum captum fuisse hortos^ Scipio-
nis, quod cum pomerium postea intrasset habendi
senatus causa in redeundo cum idem pomerium
transiret auspicari esset oblitus ; itaque vitio creatos
consules esse. Augures rem ad senatum ; senatus ut
abdicarent consules ; abdicavcrunt. Quae quae-
rimus exempla maiora ? Vir sapientissimus atque
haud sciam an omnium praestantissimus peccatum
suum quod celari posset confiteri maluit quam haerere
in re publica religionem, consules summum imperiura
statim deponere quam id tenere punctum temporis
12 contra rehgionem. Magna augurum auctoritas ;
quid, haruspicum ars nonne divina ? Haec et
innumerabilia ex eodem genere qui videat nonne
cogatur confiteri deos esse ? Quorum enim inter-
pretes sunt eos ipsos esse certe necesse est ; deorum
autem interpretes sunt ; deos igitur esse fateamur.
At fortasse non omnia eveniunt quae praedicta sunt.
Ne aegri quidem quia non omnes convalescunt
idcirco ars nulla medicina est. Signa ostenduntur a
dis rerum futurarum ; in his si qui erraverunt, non
deorum natura sed hominum coniectura peccavit.
" Itaque inter omnis omnium gentium summa
constat ; omnibus enim innatum est et in animo
13 quasi insculptum esse deos. V. Quales sint varium
^ ^ad> hortos Schomann, in hortis Lainhinus.
" The validity of the military auspices expired when the
magistrates returned within the city.
134
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. iv.
books it had come to his mind that there had been
an irregularity when he took Scipio's park as the site
for his augural tent, for he had subsequently entered
the city bounds to hold a meeting of the Senate and
when crossing the bounds again on his return had for-
gotten to take the auspices '^ ; and that therefore the
consuls had not been duly elected. The CoUege of
Augurs referred the matter to the Senate ; the Senate
decided that the consuls must resign ; they did so.
What more striking instances can we demand ? A
man of the greatest wisdom and I may say unrivalled
distinction of character preferred to make pubUc con-
fession of an ofFence that he might have concealed
rather than that the stain of impiety should cUng to
the commonwealth ; the consuls preferred to retire
on the spot from the highest office of the state rather
than hold it for one moment of time in viokation of
12 rehgion. The augur's office is one of high dignity ;
surely the soothsayer's art also is divinely inspired.
Is not one who considers these and countless similar
facts compelled to admit that the gods exist ? If there
be persons who interpret the will of certain beings,
it follows that those bcings must themselves exist ;
but there are persons who interpret the will of the
gods ; therefore we must admit that the gods exist.
But perhaps it may be argued that not all prophecies
come true. Nor do all sick persons get well,but that
does not prove that there is no art of medicine. Signs
of future events are manifested by the gods ; men
may have mistaken these signs, but the fault lay with
man's powers of inference, not with the divine nature.
" Hence the main issue is agreed among all men
of all nations, inasmuch as all have engraved in
their minds an innate belief that the gods exist.
135
CICERO
est, esse nemo negat. Cleanthes quidem noster
quattuor de causis dixit in animis hominum infor-
matas deorum esse notiones. Primam posuit eam
de qua modo dixi, quae orta esset ex praesensione
rerum futurarum ; alteram, quam ceperimus^ ex
magnitudine commodorum quae percipiuntur caeh
temperatione fecunditate terrarum aharumque com-
14 moditatum conplurium copia ; tertiam, quae terreret
animos fuhiiinibus tempestatibus nimbis nivibus
grandinibus vastitate pestilentia terrae motibus et
saepe fremitibus lapideisque imbribus et guttis
imbrium quasi cruentis, tum labibus aut repentinis
terrarum hiatibus, tum praeter naturam hominum
pecudumque portentis, tum facibus visis caelestibus,
tum stelhs iis quas Graeci cometas nostri cincinnatas
vocant, quae nuper beho Octaviano magnarum fue-
runt calamitatum praenuntiae, tum sole geminato,
quod ut e patre audivi Tuditano et Aquiho consuhbus
evenerat, quo quidem anno P. Africanus sol alter
extinctus est, quibus exterriti homines vim quandam
15 esse caelestem et divinam suspicati sunt ; quartam
causam esse eamque vel maximam aequabihtatem
motus conversionumque^ caeh, sohs lunae siderumque
omnium distinctionem varietatem pulchritudinem
ordinem, quarum rerum aspectus ipse satis indicaret
non esse ea fortuita. Ut, si quis in domum ahquam
^ caperemus Bake.
' conversionumque Ernesti : conversionem Mss. : <con-
stantiamque> conversionum Regenhart.
" Gn. Octavius, cos. 87 b.c, was a partisan of Sulla, who
was then at war with Mitliridates; the otlier consul Cinna
supported Marius. Fighting took place between them and
Octavius fell.
** The proscriptions of Marius and Sulla.
136
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. v.
13 y. As to their nature there are various opinions,
but their existence nobody denies. Indeed our (=>) Ckjn-
master Cleanthes gave four reasons to account for the ^nankimf
formation in men's minds of their ideas of the gods. expiainedby
He put first the argument of which I spoke just now,
the one arising from our foreknowledge of future
events ; second, the one drawn from the magnitude
of the benefits which we derive from our temperate
chmate, from the earth's fertihty, and from a vast
14 abundance of other blessings ; third, the awe in-
spired by hghtning, storms, rain, snow, hail, floods,
pestilences, earthquakes and occasionally subter-
ranean rumbhngs, showers of stones and raindrops the
colour of blood, also landshps and chasms suddenly
opening in the ground, also unnatural monstrosities
human and animal, and also the appearance of
meteoric lights and what are called b^^ the Greeks
' comets,' and in our language * long-haired stars,'
such as recently during the Octavian War " appeared
as harbingers of dire disasters,^ and the doubhng of
the sun, which my father told me had happened in
the consulship of Tuditanus and AquiUus, the year*' in
which the hght was quenched of Pubhus Africanus,
that second sun of Rome : all of which ahirming
portents have suggested to mankind the idea of
15 the existence of some celestial and divine power. And
the fourth and most potent cause of the behef he said
was the uniform motion and revolution of the heavens,
and the varied groupings and ordered beauty of the
sun, moon and stars, the very sight of which was in
itself enough to prove that these things are not the
mere effect of chance. When a man goes into a house,
• 129 B.c. He was found dead in his bed,but the murderer
was not discovercd ; c/. iii. 80.
137
CICERO
aut in gymnasium aut in forum venerit, cum videat
omnium rerum rationem modum disciplinam non
possit ea sine causa fieri iudicare sed esse aliquem
intellegat qui praesit et cui pareatur, multo magis
in tantis motionibus tantisque vicissitudinibus, tam
multarum rerum atque tantarum ordinibus, in quibus
nihil umquam inmensa et infinita vetustas mentita
sit, statuat necesse est ab aliqua mente tantos naturae
motus gubernari.
16 VI. " Chrysippus quidem, quamquam est acerrimo
ingenio, tamen ea dicit ut ab ipsa natura didicisse
non ut ipse repperisse videatur. ' Si enim *
inquit * est aliquid in rerum natura quod hominis
mens quod ratio quod vis quod potestas humana
efficere non possit, est certe id quod illud efficit
homine meUus ; atqui res caelestes omnesque eae
quarum est ordo sempiternus ab homine confici
non possunt ; est igitur id quo^ illa conficiuntur
homine meUus ; id autem quid potius dixeris quam
deum ? Etenim si di non sunt, quid esse potest
in rerum natura homine mehus ? in eo enim solo
est ratio, qua nihil potest esse praestantius ; esse
autem hominem qui nihil in omni mundo meHus
esse quam se putet desipientis adrogantiae est ;
ergo est ahquid meUus ; est igitur profecto deus.*
17 An vero si domum magnam pulchramque videris
non possis adduci ut etiamsi dominum non videas
* a quo dett,
138
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. v.— vi.
a ^vrestling-school or a public assembly and observes
in all that goes on arrangement, regularity and
system, he cannot possibly suppose that these things
come about without a cause : he reaUzes that there
is someone who presides and controls. Far more
therefore with the vast movements and phases of the
heavenly bodies, and these ordered processes of a
multitude of enormous masses of matter, which
throughout the countless ages of the infinite past have
never in the smallest degree played false, is he com-
pelled to infer that these mighty world-motions are
regulated by some Mind.
16 VI. " Extremely acute of intellect as is Chrysippus, (6) Proof of
nevertheless his utterance here might well appear to ^iJg „^ilf^?JJse
have been learnt from the very lips of Nature, and not 3how.s the
discovered by himself. ' If (he says) there be some- more than°
thing in the world that man's mind and huvnan iiuman
reason, strength and power are incapable of produc-
ing, that which produces it must necessarily be
superior to man ; now the heavenly bodies and all
those things that display a never-ending regularity
cannot be created by man ; therefore that which
creates them is superior to man ; yet what better
name is there for this than " god " ? Indeed, if gods
do not exist, what can there be in the universe
superior to man ? for he alone possesses reason, which
is the most excellent thing that can exist ; but for
any human being in existence to think that there is
nothing in the whole world superior to himself would
be an insane piece of arrogance ; therefore there is
something superior to man ; therefore God does (7) The
17 exist.' Again, if you see a spacious and beautiful g^^j['p®J JJ^.
house, you could not be induced to beheve, even super-
though you could not see its master, that it was built inli^bitants.
139
CICERO
muribus illam et mustelis aedificatam putes: — taii'
tum ergo ornatum mundi, tantam varietatem pul-
chritudinemque rerum caelestium, tantam vim et
magnitudinem maris atque terrarum si tuum ac non
deorum inmortalium domicilium putes, nonne plane
desipere ^-ideare ? An ne hoc quidem intellegimus,
omnia supera esse mehora, terram autem esse
infimam, quam crassissimus circumfundat aer ?
ut ob eam ipsam causam quod etiam quibusdam
regionibus atque urbibus contingere ^idemus hebe-
tiora ut sint hominum ingenia propter caeh plenio-
rem^ naturam, hoc idem generi humano evenerit
quod in terra hoc est in crassissima regione mundi
18 conlocati sint. Et tamen ex ipsa hominum sollertia
esse aliquam^ mentem et eam quidem acriorem
et divinam existimare debemus. Unde enim
hanc homo * arripuit ' (ut ait apud Xenophontem
Socrates) ? Quin et umorem et calorem qui est
fusus in corpore et terrenam ipsam viscerum soh-
ditatem, animum denique illum spirabilem si quis
quaerat unde habeamus, apparet quod^ aliud a terra
sumpsimus ahud ab umore aliud ab igni ahud ab
aere eo quem spiritu* ducimus.^ VII. Ulud autem
quod vincit haec omnia, rationem dico et, si placet
phiribus verbis, mentem consilium cogitationem pru-
dentiam, ubi invenimus, unde sustulimus ? An cetera
mundus habebit omnia, hoc unum quod plurimi est
non habebit ? Atqui certe nihil omnium rerura
mehus est mundo nihil praestabihus nihil pulcriiis,
^ pleniorem <umore> Usener.
■ aliam quam SchOmann : aliquam <mundi> Mayor.
^ quod : quorum Plasherg.
*• spiritu edd. : spiritum mss.
' diicinius (htt. : dicimus A, B.
*• avvafnrdaai. Xen. Mem. i. 4. 8.
140
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. vi.— vii.
by mice and weasels ; if then you were to imagine
that this elaborate universe, \vith all the variety and
beauty of the heavenly bodies and the vast quantity
and extent of sea and land, were your abode and not
that of the gods, would you not be thought absolutely
insane ? Again, do we not also understand that every-
thing in a higher position is of greater value, and
that the earth is the lowest thing, and is enveloped
by a layer of the densest kind of air ? Hence for the
same reason what we observe to be the case with
certain districts and cities, I mean that their inhabit-
ants are duller-witted than the average owing to the
more compressed quahty of the atmosphere, has also
befallen the human race as a whole owing to its being
located on the earth, that is, in the densest region of
18 the world. Yet even man's intelligence must lead us (s) Man'8
to infer the existence of a mind <in the universe>, and h^irotiier ^
that a mind of surpassing abiUty, and in fact divine. eienients, is
Otherwise, whence did man ' pick up ' ^ (as Socrates from the
says in Xenophon) the intelligence that he possesses ? ""i^'«"®-
If anyone asks the question, whence do we get the
moisture and the heat diffused throughout the body,
and the actual earthy substance of the flesh, and
lastly the breath of life within us, it is manifest that
we have derived the one from earth, the other from
water, and the other from the air which we inhale in
breathing. VII. But Mhere did we find, whence did 00 Reason
we abstract, that other part of us which surpasses all toThe
of these, I mean our reason, or, if you Hke to employ perfection
several terms to denote it, our intelHgence, delibera- universa.
tion, thought, wisdom ? Is the world to contain each
of the other elements but not this one, the most
precious of them all ? Yet beyond question nothing
exists among all things that is superior to the world,
141
CICERO
nec solum nihil est sed ne cogitari quidem quicquam
melius potest. Et si ratione et sapientia nihil est
mehus, necesse est haec inesse in eo quod optimum
19 esse concedimus. Quid vero, tanta rerum consentiens
conspirans continuata cognatio quem non coget ea
quae dicuntur a me conprobare ? Possetne uno^
tempore florere, dein vicissim horrere terra, aut tot
rebus ipsis se inmutantibus sohs accessus discessusque
solstitiis brumisque cognosci, aut aestus maritimi
fretorumque angustiae ortu aut obitu lunae com-
moveri, aut una totius caeh conversione cursus
astrorum dispares conservari ? Haec ita fieri omni-
bus inter se concinentibus mundi partibus profecto
non possent nisi ea uno divino et continuato spiritu
continerentur.
20 ** Atque haec cum uberius disputantur et fusius,
ut mihi est in animo facere, facihus eifugiunt Aca-
demicorum calumniam; cum autem, ut Zeno solebat,
brevius angustiusque concluduntur, tum apertiora
sunt ad reprendendum. Nam ut profluens amnis aut
vix aut nuUo modo, conclusa autem aqua facile
conrumpitur, sic orationis flumine reprensoris convicia
diluuntur, angustia autem conclusae rationis non
facile se ipsa tutatur. Haec enim quae dilatantur a
21 nobis Zeno sic premebat ; VHI. * Quod ratione
utitur id melius est quam id quod ratione non utitur ;
* uno : verno Bouhier^ suo Reizenstein,
142
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. vii.— viii.
nothing that is more excellent or more beautiful ; and
not merely does nothing superior to it exist, but
nothing superior can even be conceived. And if
there be nothing superior to reason and wisdom, these
faculties must necessarily be possessed by that being
19 which we admit to be superior to all others. Again, (lo) The
consider the sympathetic agreement, interconnexion pervSn^
and affinity of things : whom ^^-ill this not compel the parts o!
to approve the trufh of what I say ? Would it be proves the
possible for the earth at one definite time to be gay operation
with flowers and then in turn all bare and stark, or spirit!
for the spontaneous transformation of so many things
about us to signal the approach and the retirement of
the sun at the summer and the winter solstices, or for
the tides to flow and ebb in the seas and straits M-ith
the rising and setting of the moon, or for the different
courses of the stars to be maintained by the one
revolution of the entire sky ? These processes and
this musical harmony of all the parts of the world
assuredly could not go on were they not maintained
in unison by a single divine and all-pervading spirit.
20 " When one expounds these doctrines in a fuller (n) zeno
and more flowin^ style, as I propose to do, it is easier P^o^'ed the
lor them to evade the captious objections oi the rationaiity
Academy ; but when they are reduced to brief syllo- fo?eits^^^'
gistic form, as was the practice of Zeno, they lie more divinity>
open to criticism. A running river can almost or
qiiite entirely escape poUution, whereas an enclosed
pool is easily sulhed ; similarly a flowing stream of
eloquence sweeps aside the censures of the critic,
but a closely reasoned argument defends itself with
difficulty. The thoughts that we expound at length
21 Zeno used to compress into this form : \TII. ' That
which has the faculty of reason is superior to that
143
CICERO
nihil autem mundo melius ; ratione igitur mundus
utitur.' Similiter efRci potest sapientem esse
mundum, similiter beatum, similiter aeternum ;
omnia enim haec meliora sunt quam ea quae sunt
his carentia, nec mundo quicquam melius. Ex quo
efficietur esse mundum deum. Idemque hoc modo t
22 * Nullius sensu carentis pars aliqua potest esse
sentiens ; mundi autem partes sentientes sunt ;
non igitur caret sensu mundus.' Pergit idem et
urget angustius : ' Nihil ' inquit ' quod animi quod-
que rationis est expers, id generare ex se potest
animantem conpotemque rationis ; mundus autem
generat animantis compotesque rationis ; animans
est igitur mundus composque rationis.' Idemque
similitudine ut saepe solet rationem conclusit^ hoc
modo : ' Si ex ohva modulate canentes tibiae
nascerentur, num dubitares quin inesset in oliva
tibicinii quaedam scientia ? Quid si platani fidi-
culas ferrent numerose sonantes ? idem sciHcet
censeres in platanis inesse musicam. Cur igitur
mundus non animans sapiensque iudicetur, cum ex
se procreet animantis atque sapientis ? '
23 IX. " Sed quoniam coepi secus agere atque initio
dixeram (negaram enim hanc primam partem egere
oratione, quod esset omnibus perspicuum deos esse),
tamen id ipsum rationibus physicis (id est naturah-
bus^) confirmare' volo. Sic enim res se habet ut
omnia quae alantur* et quae crescant^ contineant in
* concludit dett. * id . . . naturalibus om. Ald,
■ confirmare dett.x -ri A, B. * aluntur dett.
' crescunt dett.
144
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. viii.— ix.
which has not the faculty of reason ; but nothing is
superior to the world ; therefore the world has the
faculty of reason.' A similar argument can be used
to prove that the world is wise, and happy, and
eternal ; for things possessed of each of these attri-
butes are superior to things devoid of them, and
nothing is superior to the world. From this it will
follow that the world is god. Zeno also argued thus :
2 * Nothing devoid of sensation can have a part of itself
that is sentient ; but the world has parts that are
sentient ; therefore the world is not devoid of
sensation.' He also proceeds to press the argument
more closely : * Nothing,' he says, ' that is inanimate
and irrational can give birth to an animate and
rational being ; but the world gives birth to animate
and rational beings ; therefore the world is animate
and rational.' Furthermore he proved his argument
by means of one of his favourite comparisons, as
foUows : ' If flutes playing musical tunes grew on an
ohve-tree, surely you w^ould not question that the
ohve-tree possessed some knowledge of the art of
flute-playing ; or if plane-trees bore well-tuned lutes,
doubtlcss you would hkewise infer that the plane-
trees possessed the art of music ; why then should we
not judge the world to be animate and endowed with
wisdom, when it produces animate and wise offspring?*
3 IX. " However, having begun to treat the subject (i2) Argii-
in a different way from that which I proposed at the physfcsT™
beginning (for I said that this part required no dis-
cussion, since the existence of god was manifest to heat is the
everybody), in spite of this I should Uke to prove even ^0^^!°°^^^^
this point by means of arguments drawn from Physics iight
or Natural Philosophy. It is a law of Nature that all fhe wodd ;
things capable of nurture and growth contain within
145
CICERO
se vim caloris, sine qua neque ali possent nec crescere;
nam omne quod est calidum et igneum cietur et
agitur motu suo ; quod autem alitur et crescit motu
quodam utitur certo et aequabili ; qui quam diu
remanet in nobis tam diu sensus et vita remanet,
refrigerato autem et extincto calore occidimus ipsi
24 et extinguimur. Quod quidem Cleanthes his etiam
argumentis docet, quanta vis insit caloris in omni
corpore : negat enim esse ullum cibum tam gravem
quin is nocte et die concoquatur ; cuius etiam in
reliquiis inest^ calor iis quas natura respuerit. lam
vero venae et arteriae micare non desinunt quasi
quodam igneo motu, animadversumque saepe est
cum cor animantis alicuius evolsum ita mobiliter pal-
pitaret ut imitaretur igneam celeritatem. Omne
igitur quod vivit, sive animal sive terra editum, id
vivit propter inclusum in eo calorem. Ex quo intellegi
debet eam caloris naturam vim habere in se vitalem
per omnem mundum pertinentem.
25 " Atque id facilius cernemus toto genere hoc
igneo quod tranat omnia subtihus exphcato. Omnes
igitur partes mundi (tangam autem maximas) calore
fultae sustinentur. Quod primum in terrena natura
perspici potest. Nam et lapidum conflictu atque
tritu ehci ignem videmus et recenti fossione * terram
fumare calentem,' atque etiam ex puteis iugibus
aquam cahdam trahi, et id maxime fieri temporibus
hibernis, quod magna vis terrae cavernis contineatur^
^ insit Heindorf. * continetur dett.
" Mayor detected here a verse-quotation from an unknown
6ource.
146
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. ix.
them a supply of heat, without which their nurture
and growth would not be possible ; for everything of
a hot, fiery nature suppHes its own source of motion
and activity ; but that which is nourished and grows
possesses a definite and uniform motion ; and as long
as this motion remains within us, so long sensation
and hfe remain, whereas so soon as our heat is cooled
and quenched we ourselves perish and are extin-
l guished. This doctrine Cleanthes enforces by these
further arguments, to show how great is the supply of
heat in every hving body : he states that there is no
food so heavy that it is not digested in twenty-four
hours ; and even the residue of our food which nature
rejects contains heat. Again, the veins and arteries
never cease throbbing ^^ith a flame-hke pulse, and
frequent cases have been observed when the heart of
an animal on being torn out of its body has continued
to beat with a rapid motion resembhng the flickering
of fire. Every Hving thing therefore, whether animal
or vegetable, owes its vitahty to the heat contained
within it. From this it must be inferred that this
element of heat possesses in itself a vital force that
pervades the whole world.
) " We shall discern the truth of this more readily matter
from a more detailed account of this all-permeating of heat^ll"'
fiery element as a whole. All the parts of the world itsruiin;,'
(I will however only specify the most important) are and tilero-
supported and sustained by heat. This can be per- ^^^^-.^^^
ceived first of all in the element of earth. We see possessea
fire produced by striking or rubbing stones together ; ^^^^^^^
and when newly dug, ' the earth doth steam with
warmth ' <* ; and also w^arm water is drawn from
running springs, and this occurs most of all in the
winter-time, because a great store of heat is confined
147
CICERO
caloris eaque hieme sit^ densior ob eamque causam
calorem insitum in terris contineat^ artius. X.
26 Longa est oratio multaeque rationes quibus doceri
possit omnia quae terra concipiat semina quaeque
ipsa ex se generata stirpibus infixa contineat ea
temperatione caloris et oriri et augescere. Atque
aquae etiam admixtum esse calorem primum ipse
liquor aquae declarat [effusio],^ quae neque con-
glaciaret frigoribus neque nive pruinaque concresceret
nisi eadem se admixto calore liquefacta et dilapsa
diffunderet ; itaque et aquilonibus* reliquisque fri-
goribus adiectis^ durescit umor et idem vicissim molli-
tur tepefactus et tabescit calore. Atque etiam maria
agitata ventis ita tepescunt ut intellegi facile possit
in tantis illis umoribus esse inclusum calorem ; nec
enim ille extemus et adventicius habendus est tepor
sed ex intimis maris partibus agitatione excitatus,
quod nostris quoque corporibus contingit cum motu
atque exercitatione recalescunt. Ipse vero aer, qui
natura est maxime frigidus, minime est expers calo-
27 ris ; ille vero et multo quidem calore admixtus est,
ipse enim oritur ex respiratione aquarum, earura
enim quasi vapor quidam aer habendus est, is autem
existit motu eius caloris qui aquis continetur, quam
similitudinem cernere possumus in iis aquis* quae
effervescunt subditis ignibus. lam vero rehqua quarta
pars mundi : ea et ipsa tota natura fervida est et
^ fil: dett. ^ continet Ileindorf.
' eifusio om. det. : effusae B^ et fusio Gruter.
* aquiloniis ? ed. ^ adstrictus Ileindorf.
^ iis aqnis ed. Rom. : his aquis Mss.^ aeneis Allen (aeneis,
aenis post quae addunt dett.).
148
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. ix.— x.
in the caverns of the earth, which in winter is denscr
and therefore confines more closely the heat stored
16 in the soil. X. It would require a long discourse and
a great many arguments to enable me to show that
all the seeds that earth receives in her womb, and all
the plants which she spontaneously generates and
holds fixed by their roots in the ground, owe both
their origin and growth to this warm temperature of
the soil. That water also contains an admixture of
heat is shown first of all by its liquid nature ; water
would neither be frozen into ice by cold nor congealed
into snow and hoar-frost unless it could also becorae
fluid when Hquefied and thawed by the admixture
of heat ; this is why moisture both hardens when
exposed to a north wind or a frost from some other
quarter, and also in turn softens when warmed, and
evaporates with heat. Also the sea when violently
stirred by the wind becomes warm, so that it can
readily be reaUzed that this great body of fluid con-
tains heat ; for we must not suppose the warmth in
question to be derived from some external source, but
stirred up from the lowest depths of the sea by violent
motion, just as happens to our bodies when they are
restored to warmth by movement and exercise. In-
deed the air itself, though by nature the coldest of
the elements, is by no means entirely devoid of heat ;
27 indeed it contains even a considerable admixture of
heat, for it is itself generated by exhalation from
water, since air must be deemed to be a sort of
vaporized water, and this vaporization is caused by
the motion of the heat contained in the water. We
may see an example of the same process when water
is made to boil by placing fire beneath it. — There
remains the fourth element : this is itself by nature
14Q
CICERO
ceteris naturis omnibus salutarem inpertit et vitalem
28 calorem. Ex quo concluditur, cum omnes mundi par-
tes sustineantur calore, mundum etiam ipsum simili
parique natura in tanta diuturnitate servari, eoque
magis quod intellegi debet calidum illud atque
igneum ita in omni fusum esse natura ut in eo insit
procreandi vis et causa gignendi, a quo et animantia
omnia et ea quorum stirpes terra continentur et
nasci sit necesse et augescere.
29 XI. " Natura est igitur^ quae contineat mundum
omnem eumque tueatur, et ea quidera non sine sensu
atque ratione ; omnem enim naturam necesse est
quae non solitaria sit neque simplex sed cum alio
iuncta atque conexa habere aliquem in se principa-
tum, ut in homine mentem, in behia quiddam simile
mentis unde oriantur rerum adpetitus ; in arborum
autem et earum rerum quae gignuntur e terra radi-
cibus inesse principatus putatur. Principatum autem
id dico quod Graeci qyeixoviKov vocant, quo nihil in
quoque genere nec potest nec debet esse praestan-
tius ; ita necesse est illud etiam in quo sit totius
naturae principatus esse omnium optimum omnium-
que rerum potestate dominatuque dignissimum.
30 Videmus autem in partibus mundi (nihil est enim in
omni mundo quod non pars universi sit) inesse
sensum atque rationem. In ea parte igitur in qua
1 <ignea> igitur ? Mayor.
" iSIayor would alter the Latin to give ' It Ls therefore the
element of fire that . . .'
150
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. x.—xi.
glo^ving hot throughout and also imparts the warmth
3 of health and Ufe to all other substances. Hence
from the fact that all the parts of the world are sus-
tained by heat the inference follows that the world
itself also owes its continued preservation for so long
a time to the same or a similar substance, and all the
more so because it must be understood that this hot
and fiery principle is interfused \\ith the whole of
nature in such a way as to constitute the male
and female generative principles, and so to be the
necessary cause of both the birth and the gro^vth of all
Hving creatures, whether animals or those whose roots
are planted in the earth.
9 XI. " There is therefore an element that holds ° the
whole world together and preserves it, and this an
element possessed of sensation and reason ; since
every natural object that is not a homogeneous and
simple substance but a complex and composite one
must contain within it some ruUng principle, for
example in man the intelligence, in the lower
animals something resembhng intelligence that is the
source of appetition. With trees and plants the
ruhng principle is believed to be located in the roots.
I use the term * ruUng principle ' as the equivalent
of the Greek hegemo?iikon, meaning that part of any-
thing which must and ought to have supremacy in
a thing of that sort. Thus it follows that the element
which contains the ruUng principle of the whole of
nature must also be the most exceUent of aU things
and the most deser\dng of authority and sovereignty
3 over aU things. Now we observe that the parts of the
world (and nothing exists in aU the world which is not
apartofthe whole world) possess sensation and reason.
Tiiercfore it foUows tliat that part which contains the
151
CICERO
mundi inest principatus haec inesse necesse est, et
acriora quidem atque maiora. Quocirca sapientem
esse mundum necesse est, naturamque eam quae
res omnes conplexa teneat perfectione rationis
excellere, eoque deum esse mundum omnemque
vim mundi natura divina contineri.
" Atque etiam mundi ille fervor purior perlucidior
mobiliorque multo ob easque causas aptior ad sensus
commovendos quam hic noster calor quo haec quae
31 nota nobis sunt retinentur et vigent. Absurdum
igitur est dicere, cum homines bestiaeque hoc calore
teneantur et propterea moveantur ac sentiant,
mundum esse sine sensu qui integro et hbero et
puro eodemque acerrimo et mobilissimo ardore
teneatur, praesertim cum is ardor qui est mundi non
agitatus ab alio neque externo pulsu sed per se ipse
ac sua sponte moveatur ; nam quid potest esse
mundo^ valentius, quod pellat atque moveat calorem
32 eum quo ille teneatur ? XII. Audiamus enim
Platonem quasi quendam deum philosophorum ; cui
duo placet esse^ motus, unum suum alterum exter-
num, esse autem divinius quod ipsum ex se sua sponte
moveatur quam quod pulsu agitetur aheno. Hunc
autem motum in sohs animis esse ponit, ab hisque
principium motus esse ductum putat. Quapropter
quoniam ex mundi ardore motus omnis oritur,
is autem ardor non aheno inpulsu sed sua sponte
* <in> mundo Uoethe. ^ esse <genera> Ploiiherg.
• Tiinaeus b"J.
152
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xi.— xii.
ruling priiiciple of the world must necessarily possess
sensation and reason, and these in a more intense and
higher form. Hence it follows that the world pos-
sesses A^isdom, and that the element which holds all
things in its embrace is pre-eminently and perfectly
rational, and therefore that the world is god, and all
the forces of the world are held together by the
divine nature.
" Moreover that glowing heat of the world is far
purer and more briUiant and far more mobile, and
therefore more stimulating to the senses, than this
warmth of ours by which the things that we know are
1 preserved and vitahzed. As therefore man and the since the
animals are possessed by this warmth and owe to y^orid-iieat
this their motion and sensation, it is absurd to say than oura,
that the world is devoid of sensation, considering that nl!^ved^and
it is possessed by an intense heat that is stainless, therefore
free and pure, and also penetrating and mobile in the soan^'"^
extreme ; especially as this intense world-heat does
not derive its motion from the operation of some
other force from outside, but is self-moved and spon-
taneous in its acti\dty : for how can there be any-
thing more powerful than the world, to impart motion
and activity to the warmth by which the world is held
2 together .'' XII. Forletus hear Plato,^that divine philo'
sopher, for so almost he is to be deemed. He holds
that motion is of two sorts, one spontaneous, the other
derived from without ; and that that which moves
of itself spontaneously is more divine than that which
has motion imparted to it by some force not its own.
The former kind of motion he deems to rcside only in
the soul, which he considers to be the only source and
origin of motion. Hence, since all motion springs
from the world-heat, and since that heat moves spon-
153
CICERO
movetur, animus sit necesse est ; ex quo efficitur
animantem esse mundum.
" Atque ex hoc quoque intellegi poterit in eo inesse
intellegentiam, quod certe est mundus melior quam
uUa natura ; ut enim nuUa pars est corporis nostri
quae non minoris sit quam nosmet ipsi sumus, sic
mundum universum pluris esse necesse est quam
partem aliquam universi ; quod si ita est, sapiens
sit mundus necesse est, nam ni ita esset, hominem
qui esset^ mundi pars, quoniam rationis esset^ parti-
ceps, pluris esse quam mundum omnem oporteret.
33 " Atque etiam si a primis inchoatisque naturis ad
ultimas perfectasque volumus procedere, ad deorum
naturam perveniamus necesse est. Prima^ enira
animadvertimus a natura sustineri ea quae gignantur
e terra, quibus natura nihil tribuit amphus quam ut
34 ea alendo atque augendo tueretur. Bestiis autem
sensum et motum dedit et cum quodam adpetitu
accessum ad res salutares a pestiferis recessum ;
hoc homini ampUus quod addidit rationem, qua
regerentur animi adpetitus, qui tum remitterentur
tum continerentur. XIII. Quartus autem gradus
est et altissimus eorum qui natura boni sapientesque
gignuntur, quibus a principio innascitur ratio recta
constansque, quae supra hominem putanda est
deoque tribuenda, id est mundo, in quo necesse est
perfectam illam atque absolutam inesse rationem.
* est dett. > primo, primura dett.
154
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xii.— xiii.
taneously and not by any impulse from something
else, it follows that that heat is soul ; which proves
that the world is an animate being.
" Another proof that the world possesses intelH- for the
gence is supphed by the fact that the world is un- must^r'^^'^
questionably better than any of its elements ; for superior to
even as there Is no part of our body that is not of less ^'^ ^" ^'
value than we are ourselves, so the whole universe
must needs be of higher worth tlian any portion of the
universe ; and if this be so, it follow^s that the world
must be endowed with wisdom, for, if it were not,
man, although a part of the world, being possessed
of reason would necessarily be of higher worth than
the world as a whole.
3 " x\gain, if we wish to proceed from the first rudi- (i3) Argu-
mentary orders of being to the last and most perfect, Jhe"s^^iQ°S
we shall necessarily arrive in the end at deity. We existence.
notice the sustaining power of nature first in the anmuis^^^'
members of the vegetable kingdom, towards which ^^-^^Ji^*"
her bounty was Umited to providing for their preser- defty above
vation by means of the faculties of nurture and ^'^^™-
4 growth. Upon the animals she bestowed sensation
and motion, and an appetite or impulse to approach
things wholesome and retire from things harmful.
For man she amphfied her gift by the addition of
reason, whereby the appetites might be controlled,
and alternately indulged and held in check. XIII.
But the fourth and highest grade is that of beings
born by nature good and wise, and endowed from the
outset with the innate attributes of right reason and
consistency ; this must be held to be above the level
of man : it is the attribute of god, that is, of the
world, which must needs possess that perfect and
5 absolute reason of which I spoke. Again, it is un-
155
CICERO
35 Neque enim dici potest in ulla rerum institutione non
esse aliquid extremum atque perfectum. Ut enim
in vite ut in pecude nisi quae vis obstitit videmus
naturam suo quodam itinere ad ultimum pervenire,
atque ut pictura et fabrica ceteraeque artes habent
quendam absoluti operis efFectum, sic in omni natura
ac multo etiam magis necesse est absolvi aliquid
ac perfici. Etenim ceteris naturis multa externa
quo minus perficiantur possunt obsistere, universam
autem naturam nuUa res potest impedire, propterea
quod omnis naturas ipsa cohibet et continet. Quo-
circa necesse est esse quartum illum et altissimum
36 gradum quo nulla vis possit accedere. Is autem
est gradus in quo rerum omnium natura ponitur ;
quae quoniam tahs est ut et praesit omnibus et eam
nulla res possit inpedire, necesse est intellegentem
esse mundum et quidem etiam sapientem.
" Quid autem est inscitius quam^ eam naturam
quae omnis res sit conplexa non optumam dici,
aut cum sit optuma non primum animantem esse,
deinde rationis et consiUi compotem, postremo
sapientem ? Qui enim potest aHter esse optuma ?
Neque enim si stirpium simihs sit aut etiam bestia-
rum, optuma putanda sit potius quam deterruma ;
nec vero si rationis particeps sit nec sit tamen a
principio sapiens, non sit deterior mundi potius quam
humana condicio ; homo enim sapiens fieri potest,
mundus autem si in aeterno praeteriti temporis spatio
fuit insipiens, numquam profecto sapientiam con-
* quam <aut> MamUins.
156
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xiii.
deniable that every organic whole must have an ulti- A-1 things
mate ideal of perfection. As in vines or in cattle \ve perfection,
see that, unless obstructed by some force, nature pro- ]^^^
gresses on a certain path of her ovvn to her goal of full inture aione
development, and as in painting, architecture and the canattainit.
other arts and crafts there is an ideal of perfect work-
manship, even so and far more in the world of nature
as a whole there must be a process towards complete-
ness and perfection. The various hmited modes of
being may encounter many external obstacles to
hinder their perfect reahzation, but there can be
nothing that can frustrate nature as a whole, since
she embraces and contains within herself all modes
of being. Hence it follows that there must exist
this fourth and highest grade, unassailable by any
36 external force. Now this is the grade on which The worid,
universal nature stands ; and since she is of such a i^^^ contain-
character as to be superior to all things and incapable th"n-s and
of frustration by any, it follows of necessity that the 5!//,"!^^"''®
world is an inteUigent being, and indeed also a wise s iprenaeiy
being. 5°S;--'
" Again, what can be more illogical than to deny wisdomand
that tlie being which embraces all things must be the "^^ ^*
best of all things, or, admitting this, to deny that it
must be, first, possessed of Hfe, secondly, rational and
intelHgent, and lastly, endowed with wisdom ? How
else can it be the best of all things ? If it resembles
plants or even animals, so far from being highest, it
must be reckoned lowest in the scale of being. If
again it be capable of reason yet has not been wise
from the beginning, the world must be in a worse
condition than mankind ; for a man can become wise,
but if in all the eternity of past time the world has
been foolish, obviously it will never attain wisdom ;
ti 157
CICERO
sequetur ; ita erit homine deterior. Quod quoniam
absurdum est, et sapiens a principio mundus et deus
habendus est.
37 " Neque enim est quicquam aliud praeter mun-
dum cui nihil absit quodque undique aptum atque
perfectum expletumque sit omnibus suis numeris
et partibus. XIV. Scite enim Chrysippus, ut clipei
causa involucrum vaginam autem gladii, sic praeter
mundum cetera omnia ahorum causa esse generata,
ut eas fruges atque fructus quos terra gignit ani-
mantium causa, animantes autem hominum, ut
equum vehendi causa arandi bovem venandi et
custodiendi canem ; ipse autem homo ortus est ad
mundum contemplandum et imitandum, nullo modo
38 perfectus, sed est quaedam particula perfecti. Sed
mundus quoniam omnia conplexus est neque est
quicquam quod non insit in eo, perfectus undique
est ; qui igitur potest ei deesse id quod est optimum ?
nihil autem est mente et ratione mehus ; ergo haec
mundo deesse non possunt. Bene igitur idem Chrys-
ippus, qui simihtudines adiungens omnia in perfectis
et maturis docet esse mehora, ut in equo quam in
eculeojin cane quam in catulo, in viro quaminpuero;
item quod in omni mundo optimum sit id in perfecto
39 ahquo atque absoluto esse debere ; est autem nihil
mundo perfectius, nihil virtute mehus ; igitur mundi
est propria virtus. Nec vero hominis natura perfecta
est, et efhcitur tamen in homine virtus ; quanto igitur
<• Mayor would transfer this sentence to the end of § 37.
* This probably comes from Aristotle's lost dialogue D«
Philosophiat see i. 33 n.
158
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xiii.— xiv.
and so it will be inferior to man. Which is absurd.
Therefore the world must be deemed to have been
wise from the beginning, and divine.
n " In fact ^ there is nothing else beside the world that The worid
has nothing wanting, but is fully equipped and com- ,,erfect, and
plete and perfect in all its details and parts. XIV. therefore
i, A-.1 1 ■),• 1-11 virtuous,
ror as Cluysippus cleverly put it,° just as a snield-case rationai and
is made for the sake of a shield and a sheath for the divine.
sake of a sword, so everything else except the world
was created for the sake of some other thing ; thus
the corn and fruits produced by the earth were
created for the sake of animals, and animals for the
sake of man : for example the horse for riding, the
ox for ploughing, the dog for hunting and keeping
guard; man himself however came into existence
for the purpose of contemplating and imitating the
world ; he is by no means perfect, but he is ' a small
J8 fragment of that which is perfect.' The world on the
contrary, since it embraces all things and since no-
thing exists which is not within it, is entirely perfect ;
how then can it fail to possess that which is the best ?
but there is nothing better than intelligence and
reason ; the world therefore cannot fail to possess
them. Chrysippus therefore also well shows by the
aid of illustrations that in the perfect and mature
specimen of its kind everything is better than in the
imperfect, for instance in a horse than in a foal, in a
dog than in a puppy, in a man than in a boy ; and
that similarly a perfect and complete being is bound
to possess that which is the best thing in all the world ;
39 but no being is more perfect than the world, and
nothing is better than virtue ; therefore virtue is an
essential attribute of the world. Again, man's nature
is not perfect, yet virtue may be reahzed in man ;
159
CICERO
in mundo facilius ; est ergo in eo virtus. Sapiens est
igitur, et propterea deus.
XV. " Atque hac mundi divinitate perspecta tri-
buenda est sideribus eadem divinitas, quae ex mobi-
lissima purissimaque aetheris parte gignuntur neque
ulla praeterea sunt admixta natura totaque sunt
caUda atque perlucida, ut ea quoque rectissime et
animantia esse et sentire atque intellegere dicantur.
40 Atque ea quidem tota esse ignea duorum sensuum
testimonio confirmari Cleanthes putat, tactus et
oculorum. Nam solis et candor^ inlustrior est quam
ullius ignis, quippe qui inmenso mundo tam longe
lateque conluceat, et is eius tactus est non ut tepe-
faciat solum sed etiam saepe comburat, quorum
neutrum faceret nisi esset igneus. ' Ergo ' inquit
* cum sol igneus sit, Oceanique alatur umoribus quia
nullus ignis sine pastu ahquo posset permanere,
necesse est aut ei simiHs sit igni quem adhibemus ad
usum atque victum aut et qui corporibus animantium
41 continetur. Atqui hic noster ignis quem usus vitae
requirit confector est et consumptor omnium,
idemque quocumque invasit cuncta disturbat ac
dissipat ; contra ille corporeus vitaUs et salutaris
omnia conservat aht auget sustinet sensuque adficit.'
Negat ergo esse dubium horum ignium sol utri
simihs sit, cum is quoque efficiat ut omnia floreant
* et candor Klotz : calor et candor A, B, candor dett,
160
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xiv.— xv.
how much more readily then in the world ! therefore
the world possesses virtue. Therefore it is wise, and
consequently divine.
XV. " Havinff thus perceived the divinity of the (i4)Divinity
ij j. 1 • j-i T • •/ i J.1, ofthestars:
world, we must also assign the same divmity to the (a) because
stars, wliich are formed from the most mobile and the l;'"'^ ^'■®
purest part of the aether, and are not compounded of ae- her.tha
any other clement besides ; they are of a fiery heat i','}^^.'^® °'
and translucent throughout. Hence they too have
the fuUest right to be pronounced to be Uving beings
tO endowed with sensation and intelhgence. That the
stars consist entirely of fire Cleanthes holds to be
estabhshed by the evidence of two of the senses,
those of touch and sight. For the radiance of the sun
is more briUiant than that of any fire, inasmuch as it
casts its Hght so far and wide over the boundless uni-
verse ; and the contact of its rays is so powerful that
it not merely warms but often actually burns, neither
of which things could it do if it were not made of fire.
' Therefore,' Cleanthes proceeds, ' since the sun is
made of fire, and is nourished by the vapours exhaled
from the ocean because no fire could continue to
exist without sustenance of some sort, it follows that
it resembles either that fire which we employ in
ordinary life or that which is contained in the bodies
H of Hving creatures. Now our ordinary fire that servcs
the needs of daily hle is a destructive agency, con-
suming everything, and also wherever it spreads it
routs and scatters everything. On the other hand the
fire of the body is the glow of hfe and health ; it is the
universal preservative, giving nourishment, fostering
growth, sustaining, bestowing sensation.* He there-
fore maintains that there can be no doubt which of
the two kinds of fire the sun resembles, for the sun
161
CICERO
et in suo quaeque genere pubescant. Quare cum
solis ignis similis eorum ignium sit qui sunt in
corporibus animantium, solem quoque animantem
esse oportet, et quidem reliqua astra quae orian-
tur in ardore caelesti qui aether vel caelum nomi-
42 natur. Cum igitur aliorum animantium ortus in
terra sit, aliorum in aqua, in aere aliorum, absurdum
esse Aristoteli videtur in ea parte quae sit ad gi-
gnenda animantia aptissima animal gigni nullum pu-
tare. Sidera autem aetherium locum obtinent, qui
quoniam tenuissimus est et semper agitatur et viget,
necesse est quod animal in eo gignatur id et sensu
acerrimo et mobiUtate celerrima esse ; quare cum in
aethere astra gignantur, consentaneum est in iis
sensum inesse et intellegentiam. Ex quo efhcitur in
deorum numero astra esse ducenda. XVI. Etenim
licet videre acutiora ingenia et ad intellegendum
aptiora eorum qui terras incolant eas in quibus aer sit
purus ac tenuis, quam illorum qui utantur crasso caelo
43 atque concreto ; quin etiam cibo quo utare interesse
ahquid ad mentis aciem putant ; probabile est igitur
praestantem intellegentiam in sideribus esse, quae et
aetheriam partera mundi incolant et marinis terrenis-
que umoribus longo intervallo extenuatis alantur.
Sensum autem astrorum atque intellegentiam maxu-
me declarat ordo eorum atque constantia ; nihil est
enim quod ratione et numero moveri possit sine con-
silio, in quo nihil est temerarium nihil varium nihil
" Doubtless in the lost Be Philosophiat see i. 32 n,
162
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xv.— xvi.
also causes all things to floiirish and to bring forth
increase each after its kind. Hence since the sun
resembles those fires which are contained in the bodies
of li^ing creatures, the sun also must be aUve ; and
so too the other heavenly bodies, since they have
their origin in the fiery heat of heaven that is entitled
2 the aether or sky. Since therefore some Uving ^f^^ becanse
creatures are born on the earth, others in the water the inhabit-
and others in the air, it is absurd, so Aristotle ° holds, aether
to suppose that no Uving animal is born in that probabiy
element which is most adapted for the generation Lenest
of Uving tliings. But the stars occupy the region of ^"'^®^®''*^»
aether, and as this has a very rarefied substance and
is always in Uvely motion, it foUows that the animal
born in this region has the keenest senses and the
swiftest power of movement ; hence since the stars
come into existence in the aether, it is reasonable to
suppose that they possess sensation and inteUigence.
And from this it foUows that the stars are to be
reckoned as gods. XVI. For it may be observed that
the inhabitants of those countries in which the air is
pure and rarefied have keener wits and greater powers
of understanding than persons who Uve in a dense and
t3 heavy cUmate ; moreover the substance employed as
food is also beUeved to have some influence on raental
acuteness ; it is therefore Ukely that the stars possess
surpassing inteUigence,since they inhabit the ethereal
region of the world and also are nourished by the
moist vapours of sea and earth, rarefied in their inteiif^^nce
passage through the wide intervening space. Again, pf the suis
the consciousness and inteUigence of the stars is most by their
clearly e^-inced by their order and regularity ; for nJot^Q®^
regular and rhythmical motion is impossible without which/sdue
design, which contains no trace of casual or acci- freewTiL° "*
163
CICERO
fortuitum ; ordo autem siderum et in omni aeterni-
tate constantia neque naturam significat (est enim
plena rationis) neque fortunam quae amica varietati
constantiam respuit ; sequitur ergo ut ipsa sua
44 sponte suo sensu ac divinitate moveantur. Nec vero
Aristoteles non laudandus est in eo quod omnia quae
moventur aut natura moveri censuit aut vi aut volun-
tate ; moveri autem solem et lunam et sidera omnia ;
quae autem natura moverentur haec aut pondere
deorsum aut levitate in sublime ferri, quorum neu-
trum astris contingeret. propterea quod eorum motus
in orbem circumque ferretur ; nec vero dici potest
vi quadam maiore fieri ut contra naturam astra
moveantur ; quae enim potest maior esse ? restat
igitur ut motus astrorum sit voluntarius.
" Quae qui videat non indocte solum verum etiam
impie faciat si deos esse neget. Nec sane multum
interest utrum id neget an eos omni procuratione
atque actione privet : milii enim qui nihil agit
esse omnino non videtur. Esse igitur deos ita per-
spicuum est ut id qui neget vix eum sanae mentis
existimem.
45 X\^II. " Restat ut quahs eorum natura sit con-
sideremus ; in quo nihil est difficihus quam a con-
suetudine oculorum aciem mentis abducere. Ea diffi-
cultas induxit et vulgo inperitos et similes philosophos
" 1'robably as in § 42.
164,
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xvi.— xvii.
dental variation ; now the order and eternal regu-
larity of the constellations indicates ncither a process
of nature, for it is highly rational, nor chance, for
chance loves variation and abhors regularity ; it
follows therefore that the stars move of their own
free-will and because of their inteUigence and
14 divinity. Aristotle is also to be commended for
his view° that the motion of all hving bodies is
due to one of three causes, nature, force, or will ;
now the sun and moon and all the stars are
in motion, and bodies moved by nature travel
either downwards owing to their weight or upwards
owing to their hghtness ; but neither (he argued)
is the case with the heavenly bodies, because their
motion is revolution in a circle ; nor yet can it
be said that some stronger force compels the
heavenly bodies to travel in a manner contrary to
their nature, for what stronger force can there be ?
it remains therefore that the motion of the heavenly
bodies is voluntary.
" Anyone who sees this truth would show not only
ignorance but wickedness if he denied the existence
of the gods. Nor indeed does it make much difference
whether he denies their existence or deprives them
entirely of providential care and of activity ; since
to my mind an entirely inactive being cannot be
said to exist at all. Therefore the existence of the
gods is 80 manifest that I can scarcely deem one who
denies it to be of sound mind.
15 XVn. " It remains for us to consider the quahties ri. The
of the divine nature ; and on this subject nothing is xaI"Jl-e
more difficult than to divert the eye of the mind from (§5 45-72).
following the practice of bodily sight. This difficulty
has caused both uneducated people generally and
165
CICERO
inperitorum ut nisi figuris hominum constitutis nihil
possent de dis inmortalibus cogitare ; cuius opinionis
levitas confutata a Cotta non desiderat orationem
meam. Sed cum talem esse deum certa notione
animi praesentiamus, primum ut sit animans, deinde
ut in omni natura nihil eo sit praestantius, ad hanc
praesensionem notionemque nostram nihil video quod
potius accommodem quam ut primum hunc ipsum
mundum quo nihil excellentius fieri potest animantem
46 esse et deum iudicem. His quam volet Epicurus
iocetur, homo non aptissimus ad iocandum mim'me-
que resipiens^ patriam, et dicat se non posse
intellegere quaUs sit volubiUs et rotundus deus,
tamen ex hoc quod etiam ipse probat numquam me
movebit : placet enim illi esse deos, quia necesse sit
praestantem esse aUquam naturam qua nihil sit
meUus. Mundo autem certe nihil est meUus. Nec
dubium quin quod animans sit habeatque sensum et
rationem et mentem id sit meUus quam id quod
47 his careat. Ita efficitur animantem, sensus mentis
rationis mundum esse compotem ; qua ratione deum
esse mundum concluditur.
" Sed haec paulo post faciUus cognoscentur ex
iis rebus ipsis quas mundus efficit. XVIII. Interea,
VeUei, noU quaeso prae te ferre vos plane expertes
esse doctrinae. Conum tibi ais et cyUndrum et
* resipiens dett. : respiciens A^ B,
166
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xvii.— xviii.
those philosophers who resemble the uneducated to (i) Tiie
be unable to conceive of the immortal gods without is^s'pher?ca?,
setting before themselves the forms of men : aj^isseenin
shallow mode of thought which Cotta has exposed which is
and which therefore calls for no discussion from me. ^ivme.
But assuming that we have a definite and precon-
ceived idea of a deity as, first, a Hving being, and
secondly, a being unsurpassed in excellence by any-
thing else in the whole of nature, I can see nothing
that satisfies this preconception or idea of ours more
fully than, first, the judgement that this world, which
must necessarily be the most excellent of all things,
6 is itself a Hving being and a god. Let Epicurus jest
at this notion as he will — and he is a person who jokes
with difficulty, and has but the slightest smack of his
native Attic wit, — let him protest his inabiUty to con-
ceive of god as a round and rotating body. Never-
theless he will never dislodge me from one beUef
which even he himself accepts : he holds that gods
exist, on the ground that there must necessarily be
some mode of being of outstanding and supreme
excellence ; now clearly nothing can be more ex-
cellent than the world. Nor can it be doubted that a
living being endowed with sensation, reason and in-
telhgence must excel a being devoid of those attri-
7 butes ; hence it foilows that the worki is a Hving
being and possesses sensation, inteUigence and
reason ; and this argument leads to the conclusion
that the world is god.
" But these points wiU appear more readily a Httle
later merely from a consideration of the creatures that
the world produces. XVIII. In the meantime, pray,
VeUeius, do not parade your schoors utter ignorance
of science. You say that you think a cone, a cyUnder
167
CICERO
pyramidem pulchriorem quam sphaeram videri.
Novum etiam oculorum iudicium habetis ! Sed
sint ista pulchriora dumtaxat aspectu, — quod mihi
tamen ipsum non videtur, quid enim pulchrius ea
figura quae sola omnis aUas figuras complexa continet,
quaeque nihil asperitatis habere nihil offensionis
potest, nihil incisum anguHs nihil anfractibus nihil
eminens nihil lacunosum ? cumque duae formae
praestantes sint, ex sohdis globus (sic enim o-^atpav
interpretari placet), ex planis autem circulus aut
orbis, qui kvkXos Graece dicitur, his duabus formis
contingit solis ut omnes earum partes sint inter se
simillumae a medioque tantundem^ absit <omne>*
48 extremum, quo nihil fieri potest aptius — sed si haec
non videtis, quia numquam eruditum illum pulverem
attigistis, ne hoc quidem physici intellegere potuistis,
hanc aequabiUtatem motus constantiamque ordi-
num in aha figura non potuisse servari ? Itaque
nihil potest esse indoctius quam quod a vobis ad-
firmari solet : nec enim hunc ipsum mundum pro
certo rotundum esse dicitis, nam posse fieri ut sit
aha figura, innumerabilesque mundos ahos aharum
49 esse formarum. Quae si bis bina quot essent didi-
cisset Epicurus certe non diceret ; sed dum palato
quid sit optimum iudicat, ' caeH palatum,' ut ait
Ennius, non suspexit,
XIX. " Nam cum duo sint genera siderum, quorum
* tantundem Madvig : tantum. ^ add. Brieger.
" Ancient geometricians drew their diagrams in dust
sprinkled on a board, or on the ground.
168
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xviii.— xix.
and a pyramid more beautiful than a sphere. Why,
even in matters of taste you Epicureans have a
criterion of your o^ati ! However, assuming that the
figures which you mention are more beautiful to the
eye — though for my part I don't think them so, for
what can be more beautiful than the figure that en-
circles and encloses in itself all other figures, and that
can possess no rougliness or point of colhsion on its
surface, no indentation or concavity, no protuberance
or depression ? There are two forms that excel
all others, among sohd bodies the globe (for so we
may translate the Greek sphaera), and among plane
figures the round or circle, the Greek kyklos ; well
then, these two forms alone possess the property of
absolute uniformity in all their parts and of having
every point on the circumference equidistant from
the centre ; and nothing can be more compact than
48 that. Still, if you Epicureans cannot see this, as you
have never meddled with that learned dust,^ could
you not have grasped even so much of natural philo-
sophy as to understand that the uniform motion and
regular disposition of the heavenly bodies could not
have been maintained with any other shape ? Hence
nothing could be more unscientific than your favourite
assertion, that it is not certain that our world itself is
round, since it may possibly have some other form,
and there are countless numbers of workls, all of
49 different shapes. Had but Epicurus learnt that twice
two are four he certainly would not talk hke that ;
but while making his palate the test of the chief good,
he forgets to hft up his eyes to what Ennius calls
* the palate of the sky.'
XIX. " For there are two kinds of heavenly
169
CICERO
alterum spatiis inmutabilibus ab ortu ad occasum
commeans nullum umquam cursus sui vestigium in-
flectat, alterum autem continuas conversiones duas
isdem spatiis cursibusque conficiat, ex utraque re
et mundi volubilitas, quae nisi in globosa forma
esse non posset, et stellarum rotundi ambitus co-
gnoscuntur.
" Primusque sol, qui astrorum tenetprincipatum,ita
movetur ut cum terras larga luce compleverit eas-
dem modo his modo illis ex partibus opacet ; ipsa
enim umbra terrae soli officiens noctem efficit. Noc-
turnorum autem spatiorum eadem est aequabilitas
quae diurnorum. Eiusdemque solis tum accessus mo-
dici tum recessus et frigoris et caloris modum tem^
perant. Circumitus enim solis orbium quinque et
sexaginta et trecentorum quarta fere diei parte
addita conversionem conficiunt annuam ; inflectens
autem sol cursum tum ad septem triones tum ad
meridiem aestates et hiemes efficit et ea duo
tempora quorum alterum hiemi senescenti adiunctum
est alterum aestati. Ita ex quattuor temporum
mutationibus omnium quae terra marique gignuntur
initia causaeque ducuntur.
50 "lam sohs annuos cursus spatiis menstruis luna
consequitur, cuius tenuissimum lumen facit proxi-
mus accessus ad solem, digressus autem longissimus
quisque plenissimum. Neque solum eius species ac
forma mutatur tum crescendo tum defectibus in
initia recurrendo, sed etiam regio, quae tum est
" The fixed stars are carried round the polar axis by the
general celestial movement, while the planets have two
simultaneoiis motions, (1) that of the fixed stars, (2) a move-
ment of their own, by which they revolve (as was supposed)
round the earth.
170
DE NATURA DEORUM, 11. xix.
bodies,'* some that travel from east to west in un- (2) The
changing paths, without ever making the shiihtest actiSiV is
deviation in their course, while the others perform rotatory
. ' . ^ motion, as
two unbroken revohitions m the same paths and shown m
courses. Now both of these facts indicate at once the bJ|d?e?J "^^
rotatory motion of the firmament, which Is only
possible A\-ith a spherical shape, and the circular
revolutions of the heavenly bodies.
" Take first of all the sun, which is the chief of the the sun,
celestial bodies. Its motion is such that it first fills
the countries of the earth with a flood of hght, and
then leaves them in darkness now on one side and
now on the other ; for night is caused merely by the
shadow of the earth, which intercepts the hght of
the sun. Its daily and nightly paths have the same
regukirity. Also the sun by at one time shghtly
approaching and at another time shghtly receding
causes a moderate variation of temperature. For
the passage of about 365^ diurnal revolutions of the
sun completes the circuit of a year ; and by bending
its course now towards the north and now towards
the south the sun causes summers and winters and
the two seasons of which one follows the waning of
^\-inter and the other that of summer. Thus from the
changes of the four seasons are derived the origins
and causes of all those creatures which come into
existence on land and in the sea.
50 " Again the moon in her monthly paths overtakes themoon,
the yearly course of the sun ; and her hght wanes to
its minimum when she approaches nearest to the sun,
and w^axes to its maximum each time that she recedes
farthest from him. And not only is her shape and
outhne altered by her alternate waxing and waning
or returning to her starting-point, but also her posi-
171
CICERO
aquilonia tum^ australis. In^ lunae quoque cursu
est et brumae quaedam et solstitii similitudo,
multaque ab ea manant et fluunt quibus et animantes
alantur augescantque et pubescant maturitatemque
adsequantur quae oriuntur e terra.
51 XX. " Maxume vero sunt admirabiles motus earum
quinque stellarum quae falso vocantur errantes — nihil
enim errat quod in omni aeternitate conservat pro-
gressus et regressus reliquosque motus constantis et
ratos. Quod eo est admirabilius in his stelHs quas
dicimusj quia tum occultantur tum rursus aperiuntur,
tum adeunt tum recedunt, tum antecedunt tum
autem subsequuntur, tum celerius moventur tum
tardius tum omnino ne moventur quidem sed ad
quoddam tempus insistunt. Quarum ex disparibus
motionibus magnum annum mathematici nomina-
verunt, qui tum efRcitur cum sohs et lunae et
quinque errantium ad eandem inter se compara-
tionem confectis omnium spatiis est facta conversio.
62 Quae quam longa sit magna quaestio est, esse vero
certam et definitam necesse est. Nam ea quae
Saturni stella dicitur <i>ttuojvque a Graecis nominatur,
quae a terra abest plurimum, triginta fere annis
cursum suum conficit, in quo cursu multa mirabiUter
efficiens tum antecedendo tum retardando, tum
vespertinis temporibus dehtiscendo tum matutinis
rursum se aperiendo, nihil inmutat sempiternis
^ tum det. : aut A^ B.
" <inde> vel <nam> vel <ita> in edd.
<* Perhaps from Aristotle's lost De Philosophia, see i. 33 n.
The Cosmic Year is attributed to the Pythagoreans and to
Heraclitus: Plato, Timaeus 39, gives it as 10,000 years.
* Herschel's figures, given by Mayor,are (omitting hours)»
172
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xix.— xx.
tion in the sky, which at one time is in the north and
another in the south. The moon's course also has a
sort of winter and summer solstice ; and she emits
many streams of influence, which supply animal
creatures with nourishment and stimulate their
growth and which cause plants to flourish and attain
maturity.
61 XX. " Most marvellous are the motions of the five thepjineta
stars, falsely called planets or wandering stars — for a
tliing cannot be said to wander if it preserves for all
eternity fixed and regular motions, forward, back-
ward and in other directions. And this regularity is
all the more marvellous in the case of the stars we
speak of, because at one time they are hidden and at
another they are uncovered again ; now they ap-
proach, now retire ; now precede, now follow ; now
move faster, now slower, now do not move at all but
remain for a time stationary. On the diverse motions
of the planets the mathematicians have based what
they call the Great Year," which is completed when
the sun, moon and five planets having all finished
their courses have returned to the same positions
62 relative to one another. The length of this period
is hotly debated, but it must necessarily be a fixed
and definite time.^ For the planet called Saturn's, the
Greek name of which is Phae?io?i (the shiner), which is
the farthest away from the earth, completes its orbit
in about thirty years, in the course of which period it
passes through a number of remarkable phases, at one
time accelerating and at another time retarding its
velocity, now disappearing in the evening, then re-
appearing in the morning, yet without varying in the
Saturn 29 years 174 days, Jupiter 11 years 315 days, Mars
1 year 321 days, Venus 224 days, Mercury 87 days.
173
CICERO
saeclorum aetatibus quin eadem isdem temporibus
efficiat. Infra autem hanc propius a terra lovis
stella fertur quae ^akOuiv dicitur, eaque eundem
duodecim signorum orbem annis duodecim conficit
easdemque quas Saturni stella efficit in cursu varie-
63 tates. Huic autem proximum inferiorem orbem
tenet Ilvpoets, quae stella Martis appellatur, eaque
quattuor et viginti mensibus sex ut opinor diebus
minus eundem lustrat orbem quem duae superiores.
Infra hanc autem stella Mercurii est (ea SrtA/^wv
appellatur a Graecis), quae anno fere vertente
signiferum lustrat orbem neque a sole longius um-
quam unius signi intervallo discedit tum antevertens
tum subsequens. Infima est quinque errantium
terraeque proxima stella Veneris, quae ^(orr<j>6pos
Graece Lucifer Latine dicitur cum antegreditur
solem, cum subsequitur autem "Ea-Trepos ; ea cursum
anno conficit et latitudinem lustrans signiferi
orbis et longitudinem, quod idem faciunt stellae su-
periores, neque umquam ab sole duorum signorum
intervallo longius discedit tum antecedens tum sub-
sequens.
64 XXI. " Hanc igitur in stelHs constantiam, hanc
tantam tam variis cursibus in omni aeternitate con-
venientiam temporum non possum intellegere sine
mente ratione consiHo. Quae cum in sideribus in-
esse videamus, non possumus ca ipsa non in deorum
numero reponere.
" Nec vero eae stellae quae inerrantes vocantur
non significant eandem mentem atque prudentiam,
174
DE NATURA DEORUM, 11. xx.— xxi.
least degree throughout all the ages of eternity, but
ahvays doing the same things at the same times.
Below this and nearer to the earth moves the star
of Jupiter, called Phaethon (the blazing star), which
completes the same circuit of the twelve signs of the
zodiac in twelve years, and makes the same varia-
»3 tions during its course as the star of Saturn. The
orbit next below is that of Pi/roeis (the fiery), which
is called the star of Mars, and this covers the same
orbit as the two planets above it in twenty-four
months all but (I think) six days. Below this in turn
is the star of ^lercury, called by the Greeks Siilhon
(the gleaming), which completes the circuit of the
zodiac in about the period of a year, and is never
distant from the sun more than the space of a single
sign, though it sometimes precedes the sun and
sometimes follows it. Lowest of the five planets and
nearest to the earth is the star of Venus, called in
Greek Phosphoros (the hght-bringer) and in Latin
Lucifer when it precedes the sun, but when it
follows it Hesperos ; this planet completes its orbit
in a year, traversing the zodiac \Y\\h. a zigzag move-
ment as do the planets above it, and never distant
more than the space of two signs from the sun, though
sometimes in front of it and sometimes behind it.
54 XXL " This regularity therefore in the stars, this
exact punctuahty throughout all eternity notwith-
standing the great variety of their courses, is to me
incomprehensible without rational intelhgence and
purpose. And if mc observe these attributes in the
planets, we cannot fail to enrol even them among
the number of the gods.
" Moreover the so-called fixed stars also indicate and the
the same intelligence and wisdom. Their revolutions '^^®^ ^^^
175
CICERO
quarum est cotidiana conveniens constansque con-
versio nec habent aetherios cursus neque caelo
inhaerentes, ut plerique dicunt physicae rationis
ignari ; non est enim aetheris ea natura ut vi sua
stellas conplexa contorqueat, nam tenuis ac perlucens
et aequabiU calore sufFusus aether non satis aptus
55 ad stellas continendas videtur ; habent igitur suam
sphaeram stellae inerrantes ab aetheria coniunctione
secretam et Uberam. Earum autem perennes cursus
atque perpetui cum admirabiU incredibiUque constan-
tia declarant in his \im et mentem esse divinam, ut
haec ipsa qui non sentiat deorum vim habere is nihil
omnino sensurus esse \ideatur.
66 " Nulla igitur in caelo nec fortuna nec temeritas
nec erratio nec vanitas inest contraque omnis ordo
veritas ratio constantia ; quaeque his vacant emen-
tita et falsa plenaque erroris, ea circum terras infra
lunam (quae omnium ultima est) in terrisque ver-
santur. Caelestium^ ergo admirabilem ordinem in-
credibilemque constantiam, ex qua conservatio et
salus omnium omnis oritur, qui vacare mente putat is
ipse mentis expers habendus est.
57 " Haud ergo, ut opinor, erravero si a principe
investigandae veritatis huius disputationis principium
duxero. XXII. Zeno igitur naturam ita definit
ut eam dicat ignem esse artificiosum, ad gignendum
* caelestium dett. : caelestem A^ B.
176
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xxi.— xxii.
recur daily with exact rcgularity. It is not the case
that they are carried along by the aether or that their
courses are fixed in the tirmament, as most people
ignorant of natural philosophy aver ; for the aether
is not of such a nature as to hold the stars and cause
them to revolve by its own force, since being rare and
translucent and of uniform diffused heat, the aether
does not appear to be well adapted to contain the
55 stars. Therefore the fixed stars have a sphere of
their o\vn, separate from and not attached to the
aether. Now the continual and unceasing revolutions
of these stars, marvellously and incredibly regular as
they are, clearly show that these are endowed with
divine power and intelhgence ; so that anyone who
cannot perceive that they themselves possess divinity
would seem to be incapable of understanding any-
thing at all.
56 " In the heavens therefore there is nothing of
chance or hazard, no error, no frustration, but
absolute order, accuracy, calculation and regularity.
Whatever lacks these quahties, whatever is false and
spurious and full of error, belongs to the region be-
tween the earth and the moon (the last of all the
heavenly bodies), and to the surface of the earth.
Anyone therefore who thinks that the marvellous
order and incredible regularity of the heavenly
bodies, which is the sole source of preservation and
safety for all things, is not rational, himself cannot
be deemed a rational being.
67 " I therefore beheve that I shall not be wrong if ^pJ^^
in discussing this subject I take my first principle nature
from the prince of seekers after truth, Zeno himsclf. ftsTreative
XXII. Now Zeno gives this definition of nature : artistic and
* nature (he says) is a craftsmanhke fire, proceediiv^: JfJti^vity? ^^
177
CICERO
progredientem via. Censet enim artis maxume
proprium esse creare et gignere, quodque in operibus
nostrarum artium manus efficiat id multo artificiosius
naturam efficere, id est ut dixi ignem artificiosum,
magistrum artium reliquarum. Atque hac quidem
ratione omnis natura artificiosa est, quod habet quasi
68 \iam quandam et sectam quam sequatur ; ipsius
vero mundi, qui omnia conplexu suo coercet et con-
tinet, natura non artificiosa solum sed plane artifex
ab eodem Zenone dicitur, consultrix et provida
utihtatum opportunitatumque omnium. Atque ut
ceterae naturae suis seminibus quaeque gignuntur
augescunt continentur, sic natura mundi omnes
motus habet voluntarios conatusque et adpetitiones
quas opfxds Graeci vocant, et his consentaneas
actiones sic adhibet ut nosmet ipsi qui animis move-
mur et sensibus. Tahs igitur mens mundi cum sit
ob eamque causam vel prudentia vel providentia
appellari recte possit (Graece enim rrpovoLa dicitur),
haec potissimum providet et in his maxime est
occupata, primum ut mundus quam aptissimus sit
ad permanendum, deinde ut nulla re egeat, maxume
autem ut in eo eximia pulchritudo sit atque omnis
ornatus.
69 XXIII. " Dictum est de universo mundo, dictum
etiam est de sideribus, ut iam prope modum appareat
multitudo nec cessantium deorum nec ea quae agant
molientium cum labore operoso ac molesto. . Non
** Diogenes Laertius vii. 156 Trup TexviKou 65(^ ^&bL^oi' els
y^uecnv.
* Aristotle, Phys. ii. 2 rj t^x^V /J-tfJ-e^^raL ttjv tpiaiv,
" Diogenes L. vii. 86 Tex^iT-q^ 6 \6yos r^s 6p/ji.r]s,
178
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xxii.— xxiii.
methodically to the work of generation.' ** For he
holds that the special function of an art or craft is to
create and generate, and that what in the processes
of our arts is done by the Iiand is done with far more
skilful craftsmanship by nature,^ that is, as I said, by
that ' craftsmanhke ' fire which is the teacher of the
other arts. And on this theory, while each depart-
ment of nature is ' craftsmanhke,' in the sense of
having a method or path marked out for it to follow,
68 the nature of the world itself, which encloses and
contains all things in its embrace, is styled by Zeno
not merely ' craftsmanhke ' but actually ' a crafts-
man,'^ whose foresight plans out the work to serve its
use and purpose in every detail. And as the other
natural substances are generated, reared and sus-
tained each by Its o\mi seeds, so the world-nature
experiences all those motions of the will, those im-
pulses of conation and desire, that the Greeks call
hormae, and follows these up vrith. the appropriate
actions in the same way as do we ourselves, who
experience emotions and sensations. Such being the
nature of the world-mind, it can therefore correctly
be designated as prudence or providence (for in
Greek it is termed pronoid) ; and this providence is
chiefly directed and concentrated upon three objects,
namely to secure for the world, first, the structure
best fitted for survival ; next, absolute completeness ;
but chiefly, consummate beauty and embeUishment
of every kind.
69 XXlil. " We have discussed the world as a whole,
and we have also discussed the heavenly bodies ; so
that there now stands fairly well revealed to our view
a vast company of gods who are neither idle nor yet
perform their activities with irksome and laborious
179
CICKRO
enim venis et ner\ds et ossibus continentiir nec iis
escis aut potionibus vescuntur ut aut nimis acres aut
nimis concretos umores colligant, nec iis corporibus
sunt ut casus aut ictus extimescant aut morbos
metuant ex defetigatione membrorum, quae verens
Epicurus monogrammos deos et nihil agentes com-
60 mentus est. Illi autem pulcherrima forma praediti
purissimaque in regione caeli collccati ita feruntur
moderanturque cursus ut ad omnia conservanda et
tuenda consensisse videantur,
" Multae autem aliae naturae deorum ex magnis
beneficiis eorum non sine causa et a Graeciae sapien-
tissimis et a maioribus nostris constitutae nominatae-
que sunt. Quicquid enim magnam utihtatem generi
adferret humano, id non sine di\ina bonitate erga
homines fieri arbitrabantur. Itaque tum illud quod
erat a deo natum^ nomine ipsius dei nuncupabant,
ut cum fruges Cererem appellamus vinum autem
Liberum, ex quo illud Terentii :
sine Cerere et Libero friget \'enus,
61 tum autem res ipsa in qua vis inest maior aliqua
sic appellatur ut ea ipsa^ nominetur deus, ut Fides,
ut Mens, quas in Capitoho dedicatas videmus proxime
a M. Aemiho Scauro, ante autem ab A. Atilio
Calatino erat Fides consecrata. Vides Virtutis tem-
plum, vides Honoris a M. Marcello renovatum quod
^ datum vel donatum Davies.
^ ipsa B : ipsa vis A, ipsa res dett.
" A probable correction reads ' given by,' c/. i. 38 and 118.
** The language seems to indicate that the building was
visiblc from the exedra of Cotta's mansion, where the dis-
cussion took place (i. 14). A temple near the Porta Capena
was dedicated to Ilonos by Fabius Cunctator, and later
enlarged by Marcellus and dedicated to lionos and Virtus
180
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xxiii.
toil. For they have no framework of veins and sinews ^
and bones ; nor do thoy consume such kinds of food
and drink as to make them contract too sharp or too
sluggish a condition of the humours ; nor are tlicir
bodies such as to make them fear falls or blows or
apprehcnd diseasc from exhaustion of their members
— dangcrs which led Epicurus to invent his un-^ub-
60 stantial, do-nothing gods. On the contrary, they are
endowed with supreme beauty of form, they are
situated in the purest region of the sky, and thcy so
control their motions and courses as to seem to be
conspiring together to preserve and to protect the
universe.
" Many other divinities however have with good (4) The gods
reason been recognized and named both by the wisest worsi^i^p are
men of Greece and by our ancestors from the great tiie divine
benefits that they bestow. For it was thought that deified, or
whatever confers great utility on the human race must ^''rtiies and
be due to the operation of divine benevolence towards personified,
men. Thus sometimes a thing sprung from^ a god
was called by the name of the god himself ; as when
we speak of corn as Ceres, of wine as Liber, so that
Terence writes :
when Ceres and when Liber fail,
Venus is cold.
61 In other cases some exceptionally potent force is
itself designated by a title of divinity, for example
Faith and Mind ; we see the shrines on the Capitol
lately dedicated to them both by Marcus Aemilius
Scaurus, and Faith had previously been deified by
Aulus Atihus Calatinus. You see ^ the temple of
Mrtue, restored as the temple of Honour b}'^ Marcus
jointly. Another temple dedicated to these two deities by
Marius stood on the Capitol.
181
CICERO
multis ante annis erat bello Ligustico a Q. Maximo
dedicatum. Quid Opis, quid Salutis, quid Concor-
diae Libertatis Victoriae ? quarum omnium rerum
quia vis erat tanta ut sine deo regi^ non posset, ipsa
res deorum nomen obtinuit. Quo ex genere Cupi-
dinis et Voluptatis et Lubentinae Veneris vocabula
consecrata sunt, vitiosarum rerum neque naturalium
(quamquam ^^elleius aliter existimat), sed tamen
ea ipsa vitia natura^ vehementius saepe pulsant.
62 Utilitatum igitur magnitudine constituti sunt ei di
qui utilitates quasque gignebant, atque his quidem
nominibus quae paulo ante dicta sunt quae vis sit
in quoque declaratur deo.
XXIV. " Suscepit autem vita hominum consue-
tudoque communis ut beneficiis excellentis viros in
caelum fama ac voluntate tollerent. Hinc Hercules
hinc Castor et Pollux hinc Aesculapius liinc Liber
etiam (hunc dico Liberum Semela natum, non eum
quem nostri maiores auguste sancteque [Liberum]^
cum Cerere et Libera consecraverunt, quod quale sit
ex mysteriis intellegi potest ; sed quod ex nobis natos
hberos appellamus, idcirco Cerere nati nominati sunt
Liber et Libera, quod in Libera^ servant, in Libero^
non item) — hinc etiam Romulus,® quem quidem
eundem esse Quirinum putant, quorum cum remane-
rent animi atque aeternitate fruerentur, rite di sunt
habiti, cum et optimi essent et aeterni.
63 " Aha quoque ex ratione et quidem physica magna
fluxit multitudo deorum qui induti specie humana
^ intellegi Goethe.
2 natura ^i, B : naturam B corr.
• Liberum om. dett. * Libero dett. ^ Libera dett,
^ Romulus Marsus ; Ptomulum.
182
DE NATURA DEORUM, 11. xxiii.— xxiv.
Marcellus, but founded many years before by Quintus
Maximus in the time of the Ligurian war. Again,
there are the temples of Wealth, Safety, Concord,
Liberty and Victory, all of which things, being so
powerful as necessarily to imply divine governance,
were themselves designated as gods. In the same
class the names of Desire, Pleasure and Venus
Lubentina have been deified — things vicious and un-
natural (although Velleius thinks otherwise), yet the
urge of these vices often overpowers natural instinct.
)2 Those gods therefore who were the authors of various
benefits owed their deification to the value of the
benefits which they bestowed, and indeed the names
that I just now enumerated express the various
powers of the gods that bear them.
XXIV. " Human experience moreover and general or depai-ted
custom have made it a practice to confer the deifica- beuefactors,
tion of renown and gratitude upon distinguished
benefactors. This is the origin of Hercules, of Castor
and Pollux, of Aesculapius, and also of Liber (I mean
Liber the son of Semele, not the Liber whom our
ancestors solemnly and devoutly consecrated with
Ceres and Libera, the import of which joint consecra-
tion may be gathered from the mysteries ; but Liber
and Libera were so named as Ceres' offspring, that
being the meaning of our Latin word liberi — a use
which has sur\dved in the case of Libera but not of
Liber) — and this is also the origin of Romulus, who is
beheved to be the same as Quirinus. And thcse
benefactors were duly deemed divine, as being both
supremely good and immortal, because their souls
survived and enjoyed eternal hfe.
33 " Another theory also, and that a scientific one,
has becn the source of a number of deities, who clad
183
CICERO
fabulas poetis suppeditaverunt, hominum autem
vitam superstitione omni referserunt. Atque hic
locus a Zenone tractatus post a Cleanthe et Chrysippo
pluribus verbis explicatus est. Nam cum^ vetus haec
opinio Graeciam opplevisset,^ exsectum Caelum a
fiho Saturno, vinctum autem Saturnum ipsum a
64 filio love, physica ratio non inelegans inclusa est in
impias fabulas. Caelcstem enim altissimam aetheriam-
que naturam, id est igneam, quae per sese omnia
gigneret, vacare voluerunt ea parte corporis quae
coniunctione alterius egeret ad procreandum. XXV.
Saturnum autem eum esse voluerunt qui cursum et
conversionem spatiorum ac temporum contineret ;
qui deus Graece id ipsum nomen habet : Kpovos enim
dicitur, qui est idem x/^oi^os, id est spatium temporis.
Saturnus autem est appellatus quod saturaretur
annis ; ex se enim natos comesse fmgitur sohtus, quia
consumit aetas temporum spatia annisque praeteritis
insaturabihter expletur ; vinctus autem a love ne
inmoderatos cursus haberet atque ut eum siderum
vinchs alhgaret. Sed ipse luppiter — id est iuvans
pater, quem conversis casibus appellamus a iuvando
lovem, a poetis ' pater divomque hominumque *
dicitur, a maioribus autem nostris optumus maxumus,
et quidem ante optumus, id est beneficentissimus,
quam maxumus quia maius est certeque gratius
prodesse omnibus quam opes magnas habere
^ cum A corr. : om. cett.
* opplevisset J, B : op])levil dct., opplevit esse Heindorf.
" i.e.t Uraiius.
184
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xxiv.— xxv.
in human form have furnished the poets with legends or pereoni-
and have filled man's hfe with superstitions of all Jf naturr
sorts. This subject was handled by Zeno and was C^^is .
later explained more fully by Cleanthes and Chrys- mosrof the
ippus. For example, an ancient belief prevailed ""'^''iiofjH!^
throughout Greece that Caelus ^ was mutilated by his
son Saturn, and Saturn himself thrown into bondage
64 by his son Jove : now these immoral fables enshrined
a decidedly clever scientific theory. Their meaning
was that the highest element of celestial ether or fire,
which by itself generates all tliings, is devoid of that
bodily part which requires union with another for the
work of procreation. XXV. By Saturn again they
denoted that being who maintains the course and
revolution of seasons and periods of time, the deity
actually so designated in Greek, for Saturns Greek
name is Kronos, which is the same as chro^ios, a space
of time. The Latin designation ' Saturn ' on the
other hand is due to the fact that he is * saturated '
or * satiated with years ' (afi?ci) ; the fable is that he
was in the habit of devouring his sons — meaning that
Time devours the ages and gorges himself insatiably
with the years that are past. Saturn was bound by
Jove in order that Time's courses might not be un-
limited, and that Jove might fetter him by the bonds
of the stars. But Jupiter himself — the name means
' the helping father,' whom with a change of inflexion
we style Jove, from iuvare ' to help ' ; the poets call
him ' father of gods and men,' and our ancestors en-
titled him ' best and greatest,' putting the title ' best,'
that is most beneficent, before that of ' greatest,'
because universal beneficence is greater, or at least
more k)vable, than the possession of great wealth —
185
CICERO
66 — hunc igitur Ennius ut supra dixi nuncupat ita
dicens :
aspice hoc sublime candens quem invocant omnes lovem,
planius quam aho loco idem :
cui^ quod in me est exsecrabor hoc quod lucet quicquid est ;
hunc etiam augures nostri, cum dicunt ' love fulgente,
tonante ' : dicunt enim ' caelo fulgente et^ tonante.'
Euripides autem ut multa praeclare sic hoc breviter :
vides sublime fusum inmoderatum aethera,
qui terram tenero circumiectu amplectitur :
hunc summum habeto divum, hunc perhibeto lovem.
66 XXVI. " Aer autem, ut Stoici disputant, interiec-
tus inter mare et caelum lunonis nomine consecratur,
quae est soror et coniunx lovis, quod ei^ simihtudo
est aetheris et cum eo summa coniunctio ; effemi-
narunt autem eum lunonique tribuerunt quod nihil
est eo molHus. (Sed lunonem a iuvando credo
nominatam.) Aqua restabat et terra, ut essent ex
fabuHs tria regna divisa. Datum est igitur Neptuno
alterum,* lovis ut volunt^ fratri, maritimum omne
regnum, nomenque productum ut Portunus a portu
sic Neptunus a nando paulum primis htteris im-
mutatis. Terrena autem vis omnis atque natura
Diti patri dedicata est (qui Dives, ut apud Graecos
HXovTOJu), quia et recidunt omnia in terras et oriuntur
^ qui deft. * et om. dett.
' ei Prohus : et mss..^ ei et lleindorf.
* alteri A corr. ^ volumus pr. A, pr. B.
" §4. "
* Euripides fr. 386 :
opas Tov v^pov T6pd' &7r€ipov aWipa
Kal yrjv iripL^ ^x^ovd' vypacs iv d^/cdXai»'
TOvTov v6fu^€ Zrjvat t6v8' rjyov de^v.
* Hera.
186
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xxv.— xxvi.
B5 it is he then who is addressed by Ennius in tlie follow-
ing terms, as I said before " :
Behold this dazzling vault of heaven, which all mankind
as Jove invoke —
more explicitly than in another passage of the same
poet :
Now by whatever pow'r it be that sheds
This Hght of day, rll lay my curse upon him !
It is he also whom our augm-s mean by their formula
* should Jove hghten and thunder,' meaning * should
the sky hghten and thunder.' Euripides among many
fine passages has this brief invocation :
Thou seest the boundless aether's spreading vault,
Whose soft embrace encompasseth the earth :
This deem thou god of gods, the supreme Jove.^
56 XXVI. " The air, lying between the sea and sky, is
according to the Stoic theory deified under the name
belonging to Juno,<' sister and wife of Jove, because
it resembles and is closely connected A\1th the
aether ; they made it female and assigned it to Juno
because of its extreme softness. (The name of Juno
however I believe to be derived from iuvare ' to help ').
There remained water and earth, to complete the
fabled partition of the three kingdoms. Accordingly
the second kingdom, the entire realm of the sea, was
assigned to Neptune, Jove's brother as they hold ;
his name is derived from Jiare ' to swim,' ^vith a shght
alteration of the earher letters and wdth the suffix
seen in Portunus (the harbour god), derived from
portus * a harbour.' The entire bulk and substance of
the earth was dedicated to father Dis (that is, Dives,
* the rich,' and so in Greek Plouto/i), because all things
fall back into the earth and also arise from the earth.
187
CICERO
e terris. Cui nuptam dicunt^ Proserpinam (quod
Graecorum nomen est, ea enim est quae Hepcrcipnvr]
Graece nominatur) — quam frugum semen esse
volunt absconditamque quaeri a matre fingunt.
67 Materautem est a gerendis frugibus Ceres (tamquam
Geres, casuque prima littera itidem immutata
ut a Graecis ; nam ab illis quoque A^ya^Tr^p quasi
yrj fi-jrqp nominata est). lam qui magna verteret
Mavors, Minerva autem quae vel minueret vel
minaretur. XXVII. Cumque in omnibus rebus vim
haberent maxumam prima et extrema, principem
in sacrificando lanum esse voluerunt, quod ab eundo
nomen est ductum, ex quo transitiones perviae
iani foresque in liminibus profanarum aedium ianuae
nominantur. lam^ Vestae nomen a Graecis ; ea
est enim quae ab illis 'Ea-rla dicitur ; vis autem
eius ad aras et focos pertinet, itaque in ea dea,
quod est rerum custos intumarum, omnis et precatio
68 et sacrificatio extrema est. Nec longe absunt ab
hac vi di^ Penates sive a penu ducto nomine (est
enim omne quo vescuntur homines penus) sive ab
eo quod penitus insident, ex quo etiam penetrales
a poetis vocantur. lam Apollinis nomen est Grae-
cum, quem solem esse volunt, Dianam autem et
lunam eandem esse putant, cum* sol dictus sit vel
quia solus ex omnibus sideribus est tantus vel quia
cum est exortus obscuratis omnibus solus apparet,
^ nuptam dicunt om. A, B. ^ iam Wolfflein: nam.
^ vi di ; divi B corr. ^ cumque Mnyor.
" Euripides, Phaethon, fr. 775:
u) KaXKi<peyyes "HXi', ios /x dvcoXecras
Kal t6vo' 'AttoWu} 5' iv (ipoTols o-' dpdCis KaXei
ScTis rd aiyCjvT' ovoixaT oloe dat/xSvuv.
But Plato, Cratylus, 405 'AirdWuv = d/j.a tto5Cv . . . ttjv ofxov
■tr6\rj(TLv Kai irepl t6v ovpavbv . . . /cai irepl t^v iv ry ipS^ dp/xoviav.
188
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xxvi.— xxvii.
He is said to have married Proserpina (really a Greek
name, for she is the same as the goddess called
Persephone in Greek) — they think that she represents
the seed of corn, and fable that she was hidden away,
67 and sought for by her mother. The mother is Ceres,
a corruption of * Geres,' from gero, because she hears
the crops ; the same accidental change of the first
letter is also seen in her Greek name Demeterj a cor-
ruption of ^e meter (' mother earth '). Mavors again
is from magna vertere, ' the overturner of the great,'
while Minerva is either * she who minishes ' or * she
who is minatory.' XXVII. Also, as the beginning
and the end are the most important parts of all
aifairs, they held that Janus is the leader in a sacrifice,
the name being derived from ire (' to go '), hence the
nsimes jani for archways and januae for the front doors
of secular buildings. Again, the name Vesta comes
from the Greeks, for she is the goddess whom they
call Hestia. Her power extends over altars and
hearths, and therefore all prayers and all sacrifices
end with this goddess, because she is the guardian of
68 the innermost things. Closely related to this function
are the Penates or household gods, a name derived
either from penus, which means a store of human food
of any kind, or from the fact that they residc penitus,
in the recesses of the house, owing to which they are
also called penetrales by the poets. The name ApoUo
again is Greek ; they say that he is the sun,<* and
Diana they identify ^vith the moon ; the word sol
being from solus, either because the sun ' alone ' of all
the heavenly bodies is of that magnitude, or because
when the sun rises all the stars are dimmed and it
* alone ' is visible ; while the name luna is derived
H 189
CICERO
Luna a lucendo nominata sit^ ; eadem est enim
Lucina, itaque, ut apud Graecos Dianam eamque
Luciferam, sic apud nostros lunonem Lucinam
in pariendo invocant. Quae eadem Diana Omni-
vaga dicitur non a venando sed quod in septem
69 numeratur tamquam vagantibus. Diana^ dicta quia
noctu quasi diem efficeret. Adhibetur autem ad
partus quod ii maturescunt aut septem non numquam
aut ut plerumque novem lunae cursibus, qui quia
mensa spatia conficiunt menses nominantur ; con-
cinneque ut multa Timaeus, qui cum in historia di-
xisset qua nocte natus Alexander esset eadem Dianae
Ephesiae templum deflagravisse, adiunxit minime id
esse mirandum, quod Diana cum in partu Olympia-
dis adesse voluisset afuisset domo. Quae autem dea
ad res omnes veniret Venerem nostri nominaverunt,
atque' ex ea potius venustas quam Venus ex venu-
state.
70 XXVIII. " Videtisne igitur ut a physicis rebus
bene atque utihter inventis tracta ratio sit ad com-
menticios et fictos deos ? quae res genuit falsas
opiniones erroresque turbulentos et superstitiones
paene aniles. Et formae enim nobis deorum et
aetates et vestitus ornatusque noti sunt, genera
praeterea coniugia cognationes, omniaque traducta
ad simihtudinem inbecilHtatis humanae. Nam et
perturbatis animis inducuntur : accepimus* enim
deorum cupiditates aegritudines iracundias ; nec
^ sit: est Mayor.
* <sed> Diana Mayor. ^ estque Mayor,
* accepimus deit. : accipimus Ay B.
190
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xxvii.— xxviii.
from liicere ' to shine ' ; for it is the same word as
Lumia, and therefore in our country Juno Lucina is
invoked in childbirth, as is Diana in her manifesta-
tion as Lucifera (the Hght-bringer) among the Greeks.
She is also called Diana Omnivaga (mde-wandering),
not from her hunting, but because she is counted one
59 of the seven planets or * wanderers ' (yagari). She
was called Diana because she made a sort of dai/ in
the night-time. She is invoked to assist at the birth
of children, because the period of gestation is either
occasionally seven, or more usually nine, lunar revolu-
tions, and these are called menses (months), because
they cover measured (mensa) spaces. Timaeus in his
history with his usual aptness adds to his account of
the burning of the temple of Diana of Ephesus on the
night on which Alexander was born the remark that
this need cause no surprise, since Diana was away
from home, -vvishing to be present when Olympias was
brought to bed. Venus was so named by our country-
men as the goddess who ' comes ' (venire) to all things ;
her name is not derived from the word venustas
(beauty) but rather venustas from it.
ro XXVIII. ** Do you see therefore howfrom a true and
valuable philosophy of nature has been evolved this
imaginary and fanciful pantheon ? The perversion
has been a fruitful source of false beUefs, crazy errors
and superstitions hardly above the level of old wives'
tales. We know what the gods look hke and how old
they are, their dress and their equipment, and also
their genealogies, marriages and relationships, and
all about them is distorted into the likeness of human
frailty. They are actually represented as hable to
passions and emotions — we hear of their being in love,
sorrowful, angry ; according to the myths they even
191
CICERO
vero ut fabulae ferunt bellis proeliisque caruerunt,
nec solum ut apud Homerum cum duo exercitus
contrarios alii dei ex alia parte defenderent, sed
etiam ut cum Titanis ut cum Gigantibus sua propria
bella gesserunt. Haec et dicuntur et credun-
tur stultissime et plena sunt futtilitatis summaeque
71 le^-itatis. Sed tamen his fabulis spretis ac repudiatis
deus pertinens per naturam cuiusque rei. per terras
Ceres per maria Neptunus alii per alia, poterunt
intellegi qui qualesque sint, quoque eos nomine con-
suetudo nuncupaverit, hoc eos^ et venerari et colere
debemus. Cultus autem deorum est optimus idem-
que castissimus atque sanctissimus plenissimusque
pietatis ut eos semper pura integra incorrupta et
mente et voce veneremur. Non enim philosophi
solum verum etiam maiores nostri superstitionem a
72 religione separaverunt. Nam qui totos dies preca-
bantur et immolabant ut sibi sui hberi superstites
essent superstitiosi sunt appellati, quod nomen patuit
postea latius ; qui autem omnia quae ad cultum
deorum pertinerent dihgenter retractarent et tam-
quam relegerent, <hi>2 sunt dicti rehgiosi ex re-
legendoj ut elegantes ex ehgendo ex dihgendo di-
hgentes ex intellegendo intellegentes ; his enim in
verbis omnibus inest vis legendi eadem quae in
rehgioso. Ita factum est in superstitioso et rehgioso
alterum vitii nomen alterum laudis. Ac mihi videor
satis et esse deos et quales essent ostendisse.
^ hoc eos Keil : hos deos. " add, Nonius.
" Scholars are divided as to whether this etymology is
correct or whether religio is connected with ligare, as Cicero
himself suggests elsewhere by his phrases religione obstrin-
gere^ impedire, solvi.
192
DE NATURA DEORUiM, II. xxviii.
engage in wars and battles, and that not only when
as in Homer two arniies are contending and the gods
take sides and intervene on their behalf, but they
actually fought wars of their own, for instance with
the Titans and with the Giants. These stories and
these behefs are utterly foohsh ; they are stuffed
fl with nonsense and absurdity of all sorts. But though True
repudiating these myths with contempt, we shall ^^^'K^oo-
nevertheless be able to understand the personality
and the nature of the divinities pervading the sub-
stance of the several elements, Ceres permeating
earth, Neptune the sea, and so on ; and it is our duty
to revere and worship these gods under the names
which custom has bestowed upon them. But the best
and also the purest, hoHest and most pious way of
worshipping the gods is ever to venerate them Mith
purity, sincerity and innocence both of thought and
of speech. For religion has been distinguished from
superstition not only by philosophers but by our
J2 ancestors. Persons who spent whole days in prayer
and sacrifice to ensure that their children should out-
hve them were termed * superstitious ' (from supersies,
a survivor), and the word later acquired a wider appli-
cation. Those on the other hand who carefully re-
viewed and so to speak retraced all the lore of ritual
were called ' religious ' from relegere (to retrace or
re-read), Hke ' elegant ' from eligere (to select), * dili-
gent ' from diligere (to care for). * intelligent ' from
iniellegere (to understand) ; for all these words con-
tain the same sense of ' picking out ' (legere) that
is present in ' reHgious.' ^ Hence ' superstitious ' and
' reHgious ' came to be terms of censure and approval
respectively. I think that I have said enough to
prove the existence of the gods and their nature.
193
CICERO
73 XXIX. " Proximum est ut doceam deorum pro-
videntia mundum administrari. Magnus sane locus
est^ et a vestris, Cotta, vexatus, ac nimirum vobis-
cum omne certamen est. Nam vobis, Vellei, minus
notum est quem ad modum quidque dicatur ; vestra
enim solum legitis, vestra amatis, ceteros causa
incognita condemnatis. Velut a te ipso hesterno die
dictum est anum fatidicam Trpovotav a Stoicis induci,
id est providentiam ; quod eo errore dixisti quia
existumas ab iis pro\ddentiam fingi quasi quandam
deam singularem quae mundum omnem gubernet et
74 regat. Sed id praecise dicitur : ut, si quis dicat
Atheniensium rem pubUcam consiHo regi, desit
illud * Areopagi,^ ' sic cum dicimus providentia
mundum administrari deesse arbitrato * deorum/
plene autem et perfecte sic dici existimato, pro-
videntia deorum mundum administrari. Ita salem
istum, quo caret vestra natio, in inridendis nobis
noHtote consumere, et mehercle si me audiatis
ne experiamini quidem ; non decet, non datum est,
non potestis. Nec vero hoc in te unum^ convenit,
moribus domesticis ac nostrorum hominum urbanitate
Hmatum,* sed cum in reHquos vestros tum in eum
maxime qui ista peperit, hominem sine arte sine Ht-
teris, insultantem in omnes, sine acumine uUo sine
76 auctoritate sine lepore. XXX. Dico igitur pro-
* est om. dett.
* Ariopagi A corr. t Arpagi cett., Ariipagi Plasherg.
^ unum Manutius (post convenit Kindervater) : uno.
* Hmatum Manutius : Hmato.
« See i. 18, 20, 22. The language here and at iii. 18
impHes that the work was planned to fah into three separate
conversations held on three sticcessive days: an indicalion
that it lacks the author's final revision.
194
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xxix.— xxx.
73 XXIX. " Next I have to show that the world is ii. Pro-
governed by di^ine providence. This is of course a givernment
vast topic ; the doctrine is hotly contested by your of t^^yorid
school, Cotta, and it is they no doubt that are my intro-
chief adversaries here. As for you and your friends, Ep"j^irean
Velleius, you scarcely understand the vocabulary of sneer.sare
the subject ; for you only read your own ^^Titings, and fgnorance.'"
are so enamoured of them that you pass judgement
against all the other schools without giving them a
hearing. For instance, you yourself told us yesterday'*
that the Stoics present Pronoia or providence in the
guise of an old hag of a fortune-teller ; this was due
to your mistaken notion that they imagine providence
as a kind of special deity who rules and governs the
universe. But as a matter of fact ' providence ' is an
74 elhptical expression ; when one says ' the Athenian
state is ruled by the council,' the words * of the
Areopagus ' are omitted : so when we speak of the
world as governed by providence, you must under-
stand the words ' of the gods ' and must conceive that
the full and complete statement would be ' the world
is governed by the providence of the gods.' So do not
you and your friends waste your wit on making fun
of us, — your tribe is none too well off for that com-
modity. Indeed if your school would take my advice
you would give up all attempts at humour ; it sits ill
upon you, for it is not your forte and you can't bring
it off. This does not, it is true, apply to you in par-
ticular, — y ou have the poHshed manners of your family
and the urbanity of a Roman ; but it does apply to
all the rest of you, and especially to the parent of the
system, an uncultivated, ilHterate person, who tilts
at everybody and is entirely devoid of penetration,
75 authority or chann. XXX. I therefore declare that
195
CICERO
videntia deorum mundum et omnes mundi partes et
initio constitutas esse et omni tempore administrari ;
eamque disputationem tris in partes nostri fere
di^idunt, quarum prima pars est quae ducitur ab ea
ratione quae docet esse deos ; quo concesso con-
fitendum est eorum consilio mundum administrari.
Secunda est autem quae docet omnes res subiectas
esse naturae sentienti ab eaque omnia pulcherrume
geri ; quo constituto sequitur ab animantibus
principiis ea esse generata.^ Tertius est locus
qui ducitur ex admiratione rerum caelestium atque
terrestrium.
76 " Primum igitur aut negandum est esse deos, quod
et Democritus simulacra et Epicurus imagines indu-
cens quodam pacto negat, aut qui deos esse concedant
iis fatendum est eos aliquid agere idque praeclarum ;
nihil est autem praeclarius mundi administratione ;
deorum igitur consilio administratur. Quod si aUter
est, ahquid profecto sit necesse est melius et maiore
vi praeditum quam deus, quale id cumque est, sive
inanima natura sive necessitas vi magna incitata haec
77 pulcherrima opera efficiens quae videmus ; non est
igitur natura deorum praepotens neque excellens, si-
quidem ea subiecta est ei vel necessitati vel naturae
qua caelum maria terrae regantur. Nihil est autem
praestantius deo ; ab eo igitur mundum necesse est
regi ; nulh igitur est naturae oboediens aut subiectus
deus, omnem ergo regit ipse naturam. Etenim si
* ea esse generata dett. : eam e. generatam A^ B, omnia e.
generata Heindorf^ eum e. generatum Walker,
196
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xxx.
the world and all its parts were set in order at the Division of
beginning and have been governed for all time by ^ ^*" ^^
di\*ine providence : a thesis which our school usually
divides into three sections. The first is based on the
argument proving that the gods exist ; if this be
granted, it must be admitted that the world is
governed by their wisdom. The second proves that
all things are under the sway of sentient nature, and
that by it the universe is carried on in the most beauti-
ful manner ; and this proved, it follows that the
universe was generated from hving first causes. The
third topic is the argument from the wonder that we
feel at the marvel of creation, celestial and terrestrial.
76 " In the first place therefore one must either deny (^ Provi-
the existence of the gods, which in a manner is done dentiai
by Democritus when he represents them as * appari- fnfprred
tions ' and by Epicurus with his ' images ' ; or any- J-vkie^^
body who admits that the gods exist must allow them wisdom and
activity, and activity of the most distinguished sort ; p^^®*"'
now nothinff can be more distino^uished than the
government of the world ; therefore the world is
governed by the wisdom of the gods. If this is not
so, there must clearly be something better and more
powerful than god, be it what it may, whether inani-
mate nature or necessity speeding on with mighty
force to create the supremely beautiful objects that
77 we see ; in that case the nature of the gods is not
superior to all else in power, inasmuch as it is subject
to a necessity or nature that rules the sky, sea and
land. But as a matter of fact nothing exists that is
superior to god ; it follows therefore that the world is
ruled by him ; therefore god is not obedient or sub-
ject to any form of nature, and therefore he himself
rules all nature. In fact if we concede divine intelh-
197
CICERO
concedimus intellegentes esse deos, concedimus etiam
providentes et rerum quidem maxumarum. Ergo
utrum ignorant quae res maxumae sint quoque eae
modo tractandae et tuendae, an vim non habent qua
tantas res sustineant et gerant ? At et ignoratio
rerum aliena naturae deorum est et sustinendi
muneris propter inbecillitatem difficultas minime
cadit in maiestatem deorum. Ex quo efficitur id
quod volumus, deorum providentia mundum admini-
78 strari. XXXI. Atqui necesse est cum sint di (si
modo sunt, ut profecto sunt) animantis esse, nec
solum animantis sed etiam rationis compotes inter
seque quasi ci\ili conciliatione et societate coniunctos,
unum mundum ut communem rem publicam atque
79 urbem aliquam regentis. Sequitur ut eadem sit in
iis quae humano in genere ratio, eadem veritas
utrobique sit eademque lex, quae est recti prae-
ceptio pravique depulsio. Ex quo intellegitur pru-
dentiam quoque et mentem a deis ad homines per-
venisse ; ob eamque causam maiorum institutis Mens
Fides Virtus Concordia consecratae et publice dedi-
catae sunt, quae qui convenit penes deos esse negare
cum earum^ augusta et sancta simulacra veneremur ?
Quodsi inest in hominum genere mens fides virtus
concordia, unde haec in terram nisi ab superis defluere
potuerunt ? Cumque sint in nobis consiUum ratio
prudentia, necesse est deos haec ipsa habere maiora,
nec habere solum sed etiam iis uti in maxumis et
^ earum ed. : eorum.
198
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xxx.— xxxi.
gence, we concede also divine providence, and provi-
dence exercised in things of the highest moment.
Are then the gods ignorant what things are of the
highest moment and how these are to be directed and
u}:)held, or do they lack the strength to undertake
and to perform duties so vast ? But ignorance is
foreign to the divine nature, and weakness, with a
consequent incapacity to perform one's office, in no
way suits with the divine majesty. This proves our
thesis that the world is governed by divine providence.
78 XXXI. And yet from the fact of the gods' existence
(assuming that they exist, as they certainly do) it
necessarily follows that they are animate beings, and
not only animate but possessed of reason and united
togetlier in a sort of social community or fellowship,
ruhng the one world as a united commonwealth or
79 state. It follows that they possess the same faculty
of reason as the human race, and that both have
the same apprehension of truth and the same law
enjoining what is right and rejecting what is
wrong. Hence we see that wisdom and intelU-
gence also have been derived by men from the
gods ; and this explains why it was the practice of
our ancestors to deify Mind, Faith, Virtue and Con-
cord, and to set up temples to them at the pubhc
charge, and how can we consistently deny that they
exist with the gods, when we worship their majestic
and holy images ? And if mankind possesses intelh-
gence, faith, virtue and concord, whence can these
things have flowed down upon the earth if not from
the powers above ? Also since we possess wisdom,
reason and prudence, the gods must needs possess
them too in greater perfection, and not possess them
merely but also exercise them upon matters of the
199
CICERO
80 optumis rebus ; nihil autem nec maius nec melius
mundo ; necesse est ergo eum deorum consilio et
pro\identia administrari. Postremo cum satis do-
cuerimus hos esse deos quorum insignem vim et
inlustrem faciem videremus, solem dico et lunam et
vagas stellas et inerrantes et caelum et mundum
ipsum et earum rerum vim quae inessent in omni
mundo cum magno usu et commoditate generis
humani, efRcitur omnia regi divina mente atque
prudentia. Ac de prima quidem parte satis dictum
est.
81 XXXII. " Sequitur ut doceam omnia subiecta
esse naturae eaque ab ea pulcherrime geri.^ Sed quid
sit ipsa natura expHcandum est ante breviter, quo
facihus id quod docere volumus intellegi possit.
Namque ahi naturam esse censent vim quandam sine
ratione cientem motus in corporibus necessarios, ahi
autem \im participem rationis atque ordinis tam-
quam via progredientem declarantemque quid
cuiusque rei causa efficiat quid sequatur, cuius soUer-
tiam nulla ars nuha manus nemo opifex consequi
possit imitando ; seminis enim vim esse tantam ut id,
quamquam sit perexiguum, tamen si inciderit in
concipientem conprendentemque naturam nanctum-
que sit materiam qua ah augerique possit, ita fingat
et efficiat in suo quidque genere, partim ut tantum
modo per stirpes alantur suas, partim ut moveri
etiam et sentire et appetere possint et ex sese
82 simiha sui gignere. Sunt autem qui omnia naturae
^ geri At B : regi dett,
200
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xxxi.— xxxii.
80 greatest magnitiide and value ; but nothing is of
greater magnitude and value than the universe ; it
follows therefore that the universe is governed by the
wisdom and pro^idence of the gods. Finally, since
we have conclusively proved the divinity of those
beings whose glorious might and shining aspect we
behold, I mean the sun and moon and the planets and
fixed stars, and the sky and the world itself, and all
that mighty multitude of objects contained in all the
world which are of great service and benefit to the
human race, the conclusion is that all things are ruled
by divine intelligence and wisdom. So much for the
first di^ision of my subject.
81 XXXII. " Next I have to show that all things are (-2) Provi.
under the sway of nature and are carried on by her in go!?eJ.nment
the most excellent manner. But first I must briefly infen-ed
explain the meaning of the term ' nature ' itself, to nature of
make our doctrine more easily intelhffible. Some !^ worid.
•' . c> Inemeaning
persons denne nature as a non-rational lorce that of ' nature.'
causes necessary motions in material bodies ; others
as a rational and ordered force, proceeding by method
and plainly displaying the means that she takes to
produce each result and the end at which she aims,
and possessed of a skill that no handiwork of artist or
craftsman can rival or reproduce. For a seed, they
point out, has such potency that, tiny though it is in
size, nevertheless if it falls into some substance that
conceives and enfolds it, and obtains suitable material
to foster its nurture and growth, it fashions and
produces the various creatures after their kinds,
some designed merely to absorb nourishment through
their roots, and others capable of motion, sensation,
82 appetition and reproduction of their species. Some
thinkers again denote by the term * nature ' the whole
CICERO
nomine appellent, ut Epicurus, qui ita diWdit :
omnium quae sint naturam esse corpora et inane
quaeque his accidant. Sed nos cum dicimus natura
constare administrarique mundum, non ita di-
cimus ut glaebam aut fragmentum lapidis aut aliquid
eius modi sola^ cohaerendi natura, sed ut arborem
ut animal, in quibus nulla temeritas sed ordo apparet
et artis quaedam simiUtudo.
83 XXXIII. " Quodsi ea quae a terra stirpibus con-
tinentur arte naturae ^ivunt et vigent, profecto
ipsa terra eadem vi continetur [arte naturae],"
quippe quae gravidata semiinibus omnia pariat
et fundat ex sese, stirpes amplexa alat et augeat
ipsaque alatur \dcissim a superis externisque naturis.
Eiusdemque exspirationibus et aer aUtm' et aether
et omnia supera. Ita si terra natura tenetur et
viget eadem ratio in reUquo mundo est ; stirpes
enim terrae inhaerent, animantes autem adspi-
ratione aeris sustinentur, ipseque aer nobiscum
videt nobiscum audit nobiscum sonat, nihil enim
eorum sine eo fieri potest ; quin etiam movetur no-
biscum, quacumque enim imus quacumque^ move-
84 mur videtur quasi locum dare et cedere. Quaeque
in medium locum mundi qui est infimus* et quae a
medio in superum quaeque conversione rotunda
circum medium feruntur, ea continentem mundi
efficiunt unamque naturam. Et cum quattuor
genera sint corporum, vicissitudine eorum mundi
^ sola Walkfr : nulla mss., una vel nuda Davies^ nuUa
<ni'.i> Heindorf. ' om. Davies.
* quacunque B corr. : qua.
* <in rotundo> infimus Plasherg^
* The Mss. give " which possesses no natural principle of
cohesion."
202
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xxxii.— xxxiii.
of existence — for example Epicurus, who divides the
nature of all existing things into atoms, void, and the
attributes of these. When we on the other hand
speak of nature as the sustaining and governing
principle of the world, we do not mean that the world
is Uke a clod of earth or lump of stone or something
else of that sort, which possesses only " the natural
principle of cohesion, but Hke a tree or an animal,
displaying no haphazard structure, but order and
a certain semblance of design.
33 XXXIII. " But if the plants fixed and rooted in the '^'J^'^^
earth owe their Hfe and vigour to nature's art, surely organism
theearthherself must be sustained by the same power, InYnTem-^^
inasmuch as M-hen impregnated with seeds she brings gent natuie.
forth from her womb all things in profusion, nourishes
their roots in her bosom and causes them to grow, and
herself in turn is nourished by the upper and outer
elements. Her exhalations moreover give nourish-
ment to the air, the ether and all the heavenly bodies.
Thus if earth is upheld and inWgorated by nature,
the same principle must hold good of the rest of the
world, for plants are rooted in the earth, animals are
sustained by breathing air, and the air itself is our
partner in seeing, hearing and uttering sounds, since
none of these actions can be performed without
its aid ; nay, it even moves as we move, for wherever
we go or move our hmbs, it seems as it were to give
84 place and retire before us. And those things which
travel towards the centre of the earth which is its
lowest point, those which move from the centre
upwards, and those which rotate in circles round the
centre, constitute the one continuous nature of the
world. Again the continuum of the world's nature
is constituted by the cychc transmutations of the four
203
CICERO
continuata natura est. Nam ex terra aqua ex aqua
oritur aer ex aere aether, deinde retrorsum vicissim
ex aethere aer, inde aqua, ex aqua terra infima.
Sic naturis his ex quibus omnia constant sursus
deorsus ultro citro commeantibus mundi partium
85 coniunctio continetur. Quae aut sempiterna sit
necesse est hoc eodem ornatu quem videmus, aut
certe perdiuturna, permanens ad longinquum et
inmensum paene tempus. Quorum utrumvis ut sit,
sequitur natura mundum administrari. Quae enim
classium navigatio aut quae instructio exercitus aut,
rursus ut ea quae natura efficit conferamus, quae
procreatio vitis aut arboris, quae porro animantis
figura conformatioque membrorum tantam naturae
sollertiam significat quantam ipse mundus ? Aut
igitur nihil est quod sentiente natura regatur, aut
86 mundum regi confitendum est. Etenim qui rehquas
naturas omnes earumque semina contineat qui potest
ipse non natura administrari ? ut si qui dentes et
pubertatem natura dicat existere, ipsum autem
hominem cui ea existant non constare natura, non
intellegat ea quae ecferant afiquid ex sese perfec-
tiores habere naturas quam ea quae ex iis ecferantur.
XXXIV. Omnium autem rerum quae natura ad-
ministrantur seminator et sator et parens ut ita
dicam atque educator et altor est mundus omniaque
sicut membra et partes suas nutricatur et continet.
204
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xxxiii.— xxxiv.
kinds of matter. For earth turns into water, water
into air, air into aether, and then the process is re-
versed, and aether becomes air, air water, and water
earth, the lowest of the four. Thus the parts of the
world are held in union by the constant passage up
and down, to and fro, of these four elements of whicn
85 all things are composed. And this world-structure
must either be everlasting in this same form in which
we see it or at all events extremely durable, and des-
tined to endure for an ahiiost immeasurably pro-
tracted period of time. Whichever alternative be
true, the inference follows that the world is governed
by nature. For consider the navigation of a fleet, the
marshaUing of an army, or (to return to instances
from the processes of nature) the budding of a vine
or of a tree, or even the shape and structure of the
hmbs of an animal — when do these ever evidence
such a degree of skill in nature as does the world
itself } Either therefore there is nothing that is ruled
by a sentient nature, or we must admit that the
86 world is so ruled. Indeed, how is it possible that the
universe, which contains within itself all the other
natures and their seeds, should not itself be governed
by nature .'' Thus if anyone declared that a mans
teeth and the hair on his body are a natural growth
but that the man himself to whom they belong is not
a natural organism, he would fail to see that things
which produce something from within them must
have more perfect natures than the things which are
produced from them. XXXIV. But the sower and
planter and begetter, so to speak, of all the things
that nature governs, their trainer and nourisher, is
the world ; the world gives nutriment and sustenance
to all its Hmbs as it were, or parts. But if the parts
205
CICERO
Quodsi mundi partes natura administrantur, necesse
est mundum ipsum natura administrari. Cuius qui-
dem administratio nihil habet in se quod reprehendi
possit ; ex iis enim naturis quae erant quod effici
87 optimum potuit efFectum est. Doceat ergo ahquis
potuisse meUus ; sed nemo umquam docebit, et
si quis corrigere aHquid volet aut deterius faciet
aut id quod fieri non potuerit desiderabit.
" Quodsi omnes mundi partes ita constitutae sunt
ut neque ad usum mehores potuerint esse neque
ad speciem pulcriores, videamus utrum ea fortuita-
ne sint an eo statu quo cohaerere nullo modo
potuerint nisi sensu moderante divinaque pro-
videntia. Si igitur mehora sunt ea quae natura
quam illa quae arte perfecta sunt, nec ars efficit
quicquam sine ratione, ne natura quidem rationis
expers est habenda. Qui igitur convenit, signum aut
tabulam pictam cum aspexeris, scire adhibitam esse
artem, cumque procul cursum navigii videris, non
dubitare quin id ratione atque arte moveatur, aut
cum solarium vel descriptum vel ex aqua contemplere,
intellegere declarari horas arte non casu, mundum
autem, qui et has ipsas artes et earum artifices et
cuncta conplectatur, consihi et rationis esse expertem
88 putare ? Quodsi in Scythiam aut in Britanniam
sphaeram ahquis tulerit hanc quam nuper famiharis
noster effecit Posidonius, cuius singulae conversiones
idem efficiunt in sole et in luna et in quiiique stelUa
206
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xxxiv.
of the world are governed by nature, the world
itself must needs be governed by nature. Now the
government of the world contains nothing that could
possibly be censured ; given the existing elements,
the best that could be produced from them has been
87 produced. Let someone therefore prove that it The worWs
T -1 1 1 t T» -n perfection
could have been better. But no one ^^ill ever prove must be the
this, and anyone who essays to improve some detail Jnteuigence
will either make it worse or will be demanding an(thatofa
improvement impossible in the nature of things. nJer^
" But if the structure of the world in all its parts is
such that it could not have been better whether in
point of utility or beauty, let us consider whether
this is the result of chance, or whether on the contrary
the parts of the world are in such a condition that
they could not possibly have cohered together if they
were not controlled by intelligence and by divine
providence. If then the products of nature are better
than those of art, and if art produces nothing A\athout
reason, nature too cannot be deemed to be \vithout
reason. When you see a statue or a painting, you
recognize the exercise of art ; when you observe
from a distance the course of a ship, you do not hesi-
tate to assume that its motion is guided by reason and
by art ; when you look at a sun-dial or a M-ater-clock,
you infer that it tells the time by art and not by
chance ; how then can it be consistent to suppose
that the world, which includes both the works of art
in question, the craftsmen who made them, and
everything else besides, can be devoid of purpose and
88 of reason ? Suppose a traveller to carry into Scythia
or Britain the orrery recently constructed by our
friend Posidonius, which at each revolution repro-
duces the same motions of the sun, the moon and the
207
CICERO
errantibus quod efficitur in caelo singulis diebus et
noctibus, quis in illa barbaria dubitet quin ea sphaera
sit perfecta ratione ? XXXV. Hi autem dubitant
de mundo ex quo et oriuntur et fiunt omnia, casune
ipse sit efFectus aut necessitate aliqua an ratione
ac mente divina, et Archimedem arbitrantur plus
valuisse in imitandis sphaerae conversionibus quam
naturam in efficiendis, praesertim cum multis parti-
bus sint illa perfecta quam haec simulata sollertius.
89 Utque^ ille apud Accium pastor qui navem numquam
ante vidisset, ut procul divinum et novum vehiculum
Argonautarum e monte conspexit, primo admirans et
perterritus hoc modo loquitur :
tanta moles labitur
fremibunda ex alto ingenti sonitu et spiritu* :
prae se undas volvit, vertices vi suscitat,
ruit prolapsa, pelagus respergit reflat ;
ita dum interruptum credas nimbum volvier,
dum quod sublime ventis expulsum rapi
saxum aut procellis, vel globosos turbines
existere ictos undis concursantibus,
nisi quas terrestris pontus strages conciet,
aut forte Triton fuscina evertens specus
subter radices penitus undanti in freto
molem ex profundo saxeam ad caelum eruit.
Dubitat primo quae sit ea natura quam cernit igno-
tam ; idemque iuvenibus visis auditoque nautico
cantu :
fsicut]^ inciti atque alacres rostris perfreraunt
delphini —
item aha multa —
* utque Plosberg : atque A, B, atqui deit,
2 spiritu Priscian : strepitu.
3 sicut non habuit pr. B {Dieckhoff).
•• Born 170 b.o. The lines came from his Medea.
208
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xxxiv.— xxxv.
five planets that take place in the heavens every
twenty-four hours, would any single native doubt that
this orrery was the work of a rational being ? XXXV.
These thinkers however raise doubts about the world
itself from which all things arise and have their being,
and debate whether it is the product of chance or
necessity of some sort, or of divine reason and intelli-
gence ; they think more highly of the achievement
of Archimedes in making a model of the revolutions
of the firmament than of that of nature in creating
them, although the perfection of the original shows
a craftsmanship many times as great as does the
J9 counterfeit. Just as the shepherd in Accius '^ who had
never seen a ship before, on descrying in the distance
fxom his mountain-top the strange vessel of the
Argonauts, built by the gods, in his first amazement
and alarm cries out ;
so huge a bulk
GUdes from the deep with the roar of a whistling wind t
Waves roll before, and eddies surge and swirl ;
Hurtling headlong, it snorts and sprays the foam.
Now might one deem a bursting storm-cloud roUed,
Now that a rock flew sky^vard, flung aloft
By wind and storm, or whirhng waterspout
Rose from the clash of wave with warring wave ;
Save 'twere land-havoc wrought by ocean-flood,
Or Triton's trident, heaving up the roots
Of cavernous vaults beneath the billowy sea,
Hurled from the depth heaven-high a massy crag.
At first he wonders what the unknown creature that
he beholds may be. Then when he sees the warriors
and hears the singing of the sailors, he goes on :
the sportive dolphins swift
Forge snorting through the foam —
and so on and so on —
209
CICERO
Silvani melo
consimilem ad aures cantum et auditum refert.
90 Ergo ut hic primo aspectu inanimum quiddam sensu-
que vacuum se putat cernere, post autem signis
certioribus quale sit id de quo dubitaverat incipit
suspicari, sic philosophi debuerunt, si forte eos pri-
mus aspectus mundi conturbaverat, postea, cum vidis-
sent motus eius finitos et aequabiles omniaque ratis
ordinibus moderata inmutabihque constantia, intelle-
gere inesse ahquem non solum habitatorem in hac
caelesti ac divina domo sed etiam rectorem et
moderatorem et tamquam architectum tanti operis
tantique muneris.
XXXVI. " Nunc autem mihi videntur ne suspi-
cari quidem quanta sit admirabihtas caelestium rerum
91 atque terrestrium. Principio enim terra sita in
media parte mundi circumfusa undique est hac
animah spirabiUque natura cui nomen est aer —
Graecum illud quidem sed perceptum iam tamen
usu a nostris ; tritum est enim pro Latino. Hunc
rursus amplectitur inmensus aether, qui constat ex
altissimis ignibus — mutuemur hoc quoque verbum,
dicaturque tam aether Latine quam dicitur aer, etsi
interpretatur Pacuvius :
hoc quod memoro nostri caelum, Graii perhibent aethera —
quasi vero non Graiiis hoc dicat ! ' At Latine loqui-
210
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xxxv.— xxxvi.
Brings to my ears and hearing such a tune
As old Silvanus piped.
90 Well then, even as the shepherd at the first sight
thinks he sees some hfeless and inanimate object, but
afterwards is led by clearer indications to begin to
suspect the true nature of the thing about which he
had previously been uncertain, so it would have been
the proper course for the philosophers, if it so hap-
pened that the first sight of the world perplexed them,
afterwards when they had seen its definite and regular
motions, and all its phenomena controlled by fixed
system and unchanging uniformity, to infer the
presence not merely of an inhabitant of this celestial
and divine abode, but also of a ruler and governor, the
architect as it -vvere of this mighty and monumental
structure.
XXXVI. " But as it is they appear to me to have
no suspicion even of the marvels of the celestial and
91 terrestrial creation. For in the first place the earth,
which is situated in the centre of the world, is sur-
rounded on all sides by this hving and respirable
substance named the air. 'Air ' is a Greek word, but
yet it has by this time been accepted in use by our
race, and in fact passes current as Latin. The air in
turn is embraced by the immeasurable aether, which
consists of the most elevated portions of fire. The
term ' aether ' also we may borrow, and employ it
hke ' air ' as a Latin word, though Pacu^ius provides
his readers vrith a translation :
What I speak of, we call heaven, but the Greeks it ' aether'
call—
just as though the man who says this were not a
Greek! 'Well, he is talking Latin,' you may say.
211
CICERO
tur.' Si quidem nos non quasi Graece loquentem
audiamus ; docet idem alio loco :
Graiugena : de isto^ aperit ipsa oratio.
92 Sed ad maiora redeamus. Ex aethere igitur innume-
rabiles flammae siderum exsistunt, quorum est prin-
ceps sol omnia clarissima luce conlustrans, multis
partibus maior atque amplior quam terra universa,
deinde reliqua sidera magnitudinibus inmensis.
Atque hi tanti ignes tamque multi non modo nihil
nocent terris rebusque terrestribus, sed ita prosunt
ut si moti^ loco sint conflagrare terras necesse sit
a tantis ardoribus moderatione et temperatione
sublata.
93 XXXVII. " Hic ego non mirer esse quemquam
qui sibi persuadeat corpora quaedam solida atque
individua vi^ et gravitate ferri mundumque effici
ornatissimum et pulcherrimum ex eorum corporum
concursione fortuita ? Hoc qui existimat fieri
potuisse, non intellego cur non idem putet, si in-
numerabiles unius et viginti formae Htterarum vel
aureae vel qualeshbet ahquo coiciantur, posse ex
iis in terram excussis annales Ennii ut deinceps legi
possint effici ; quod nescio an ne in uno quidem
94 versu possit tantum valere fortuna. Isti autem
quem ad modum adseverant ex corpuscuhs non
calore non quahtate ahqua (quam TroioTrjTa Graeci
* istoc Bothe. * moti dett. : mota A^ B.
• <sua> vi Lambinus.
212
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xxxvi.— xxxvii.
Just so, if we won't suppose we are hearing liira
talk Greek ; in another passage Pacuvius tells us :
A Grecian born : my speech discloses that.
92 But let us return to more important matters. From
aetherthenarisetheinnumerable fires of the heavenly
bodies, chief of which is the sun, who illumines all
things with most brilhant hght, and is many times
greater and vaster than the whole earth ; and after
him the other stars of unmeasured magnitudes. And
these vast and numerous fires not merely do no harm
to the earth and to terrestrial things, but are actually
beneficial, though with the quahfication that were
their positions altered, the earth would inevitably be
burnt up by such enormous volumes of heat when
uncontrolled and untempered.
93 XXXVII. " At this point must I not marvel that nie worid'8
there should be anyone who can persuade himself resuuTrom*
that there are certain soUd and indivisible particles ^ fortuitous
of matter borne along by the force of gravity, and that of atoms.
the fortuitous colUsion of those particles produces
this elaborate and beautiful world ? I cannot under-
stand why he who considers it possible for this to have
occurred should not also think that, if a countless
number of copies of the one-and-twenty letters of the
alphabet, made of gold or what you vnl\, were thrown
together into some receptacle and then shaken out ^
on to the ground, it would be possible that they should
produce the Annals of Ennius, aU ready for the reader.
I doubt whether chance could possibly succeed in
94 producing even a single verse ! Yet according to the
assertion of your friends, that out of particles of matter
not endowed with heat, nor \^dth any ' quaUty '
(the Greek tQYmpoioies), nor with sense, but coUiding
2J3
CICERO
vocant) non sensu praeditis sed concurrentibus temere
atque casu mundum esse perfectum, vel innumera-
biles potius in omni puncto temporis alios nasci alios
interire, — quodsi mundum efRcere potest concursus
atomorum, cur porticum cur templum cur domum
cur urbem non potest, quae sunt minus operosa et
multo^ quidem [faciliora]^ ? Certe ita temere de
mundo effutiunt ut mihi quidem numquam hunc
admirabilem caeli ornatum (qui locus est proximus)
suspexisse \ddeantur. Praeclare ergo Aristoteles
95 ' Si essent ' inquit ' qui sub terra semper habita-
vissent bonis et inlustribus domiciliis quae essent
ornata signis atque picturis instructaque rebus
iis omnibus quibus abundant ii qui beati putantur,
nec tamen exissent umquam supra terram, ac-
cepissent autem fama et auditione esse quoddam
numen et vim deorum, deinde aliquo tempore
patefactis terrae faucibus ex illis abditis sedibus
evadere in haec loca quae nos incohmus atque exire
potuissent : cum repente terram et maria caelumque
vidissent, nubium magnitudinem ventorumque vim
cognovissent aspexissentque solem eiusque cum
magnitudinem pulchritudinemque tum etiam effi-
cientiam cognovissent, quod is diem efficeret toto
caelo luce diifusa, cum autem terras nox opacasset,
tum caelum totum cernerent astris distinctum et
ornatum lunaeque luminum varietatem tum crescen-
tis tum senescentis eorumque omnium ortus et
occasus atque in omni aeternitate ratos inmutabilos-
que cursus — quae cum viderent, profecto et esse
^ multa B. 2 secl. Madvig.
" In the lost dialogue I)e PJtilosophia^ see i. 33 n.
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xxx\1i.
together at haphazard and by chance, the world
has emerged complete, or rather a comitless number
of worlds are some of them being born and some
perishing at every moment of time — yet if the
clash of atoms can create a world, why can it not
produce a colonnade, a temple, a house, a city, which
are less and indeed much less difficult things to make ?
The fact is, they indulge in such random babbhng
about the world that for my part I cannot think
that they have ever looked up at this marvellously
beautiful sky — which is my next topic. So Aristotle
95 says <* briUiantly : * If there were beings who had al- oniy
ways Uved beneath the earth, in comfortable, well-Ut bUndl^nsHr
dvreUings, decorated with statues and pictures and the dhine
furnished \\ith all the luxuries enjoyed by persons nauu-?^^
thought to be supremely happy, and who though they
had never come forth above the ground had learnt
by report and by hearsay of the existence of certain
deities or divine powers ; and then if at some time
the jaws of the earth M-ere opened and they were able
to escape from their hidden abode and to come forth
into the regions which we inhabit ; when they sud-
denly had sight of the earth and the seas and the sky,
and came to know of the vast clouds and mighty
winds, and beheld the sun, and reaUzed not only its
size and beauty but also its potency in causing the
day by shedding Ught over aU the sky, and, after
night had darkened the earth, they then saw the
whole sky spangled and adorned with stars, and the
changing phases of the moon's Ught, now waxing and
now waning, and the risings and settings of aU these
heavenly bodies and their courses fixed and change-
less throughout aU eternity, — when they saw these
things, surely they would think that the gods exist
215
CICERO
deos et haec tanta opera deorum esse arbitrarentur.*
96 XXXVIII. Atque haec quidem ille ; nos autem
tenebras cogitemus tantas quantae quondam erup-
tione Aetnaeorum ignium finitimas regiones obscura-
visse dicuntur. ut per biduum nemo hominem homo
agnosceret, cum autem tertio die sol inluxisset tum ut
revixisse sibi viderentur : quodsi hoc idem ex aeternis
tenebris contingeret ut subito lucem aspiceremus,
quaenam species caeH videretur ? Sed adsiduitate
cotidiana et consuetudine oculorum adsuescunt
animi, neque admirantur neque requirunt rationes
earum rerum quas semper vident, proinde quasi
novitas nos magis quam magnitudo rerum debeat
97 ad exquirendas causas excitare. Quis enim hunc
hominem dixerit qui, cum tam certos caeU motus
tam ratos astrorum ordines tamque inter se omnia
conexa et apta ^iderit, neget in his ullam inesse
rationem, eaque casu fieri dicat quae quanto consilio
gerantur nuUo consiUo adsequi possumus ? An,
cum machinatione quadam moveri ahquid videmus,
ut sphaeram ut horas ut aUa permulta, non dubi-
tamus quin iUa opera sint rationis, cum autem
impetum caeU cum admirabiU celeritate moveri
vertique videamus^ constantissime conficientem
vicissitudines anniversarias cum summa salute et
conservatione rerum omnium, dubitamus quin ea
* videmus dett,
216
DE NATURA DEORUM, 11. xxxvii.— xxxviii.
and that these mighty marvels are their handiwork.*
96 XXXVIII. Thus far Aristotle ; let us for our part
imagine a darkness as dense as that which is said to
have once covered the neighbouring districts on the
occasion of an eruption of the volcano Etna, so that
for two days no man could recognize his fellow, and
when on the third day the sun shone upon them, they
felt as if they had come to life again : well, suppose
that after darkness had prevailed from the beginning
of time, it similarly happened to ourselves suddenly
to behold the Hght of day, what should we think of the
splendour of the heavens ? But daily recurrence and
habit familiarize our minds with the sight, and we
feel no surprise or curiosity as to the reasons for
things that we see always ; just as if it were the
novelty and not rather the importance of phenomena
that ought to arouse us to inquire into their causes.
97 Who would not deny the name of human being to a
man who, on seeing the regular motions of the heaven
and the fixed order of the stars and the accurate inter-
connexion and interrelation of all things, can deny
that these things possess any rational design, and can
maintain that phenomena, the wisdom of whose
ordering transcends the capacity of our wisdom to
understand it, take place by chance ? When we see
something moved by machinery, hke an orrery or
clock or many other such things, we do not doubt that
these contrivances are the work of reason ; when
therefore we behold the whole compass of the heaven
moving with revolutions of marvellous velocity and
executing with perfect regularity the annual changes
of the seasons wdth absolute safety and security for
all things, how can we doubt that all this is effected
217
CICERO
non solum ratione fiant sed etiam excellenti divlna-
que ratione ?
98 " Licet enim iam remota subtilitate disputandi
oculis quodam modo contemplari pulchritudinem
rerum earum quas di\dna providentia dicimus consti-
tutas. XXXIX. Ac principio terra universa cernatur,
locata in media sede mundi, solida et globosa et
undique ipsa in sese nutibus suis conglobata, vestita
floribus herbis arboribus frugibus, quorum omnium
incredibihs multitudo insatiabili varietate distingui-
tur. Adde huc fontium gelidas perennitates, liquores
perlucidos amnium, riparum vestitus viridissimos,
speluncarum concavas altitudines, saxorum asperi-
tates, inpendentium montium altitudines inmensi-
tatesque camporum ; adde etiam reconditas auri
99 argentique venas infinitamque vim marmoris. Quae
vero et quam varia genera bestiarum vel cicurum
vel ferarum ! qui volucrium lapsus atque cantus !
qui pecudum pastus ! quae vita silvestrium ! Quid
iam de hominum genere dicam ? qui quasi cultores
terrae constituti non patiuntur eam nec inmanitate
beluarum efFerari nec stirpium asperitate vastari,
quorumque operibus agri, insulae Utoraque coUucent
distincta tectis et urbibus. Quae si ut animis
sic ocuUs videre possemus, nemo cunctam intuens
100 terram de divina ratione dubitaret. At vero quanta
maris est pulchritudo ! quae species universi ! quae
multitudo et varietas insularum ! quae amoenitates
orarum ac htorum ! quot genera quamque dis-
paria partim submersarum, partim fluitantium et
218
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xxxviii.
not merely by reason, but by a reason that is trans-
cendent and divine ?
i8 " For we may now put aside elaborate argument (3) Detaiied
and gaze as it were with our eyes upon the beauty of Se' wo "der^
the creations of divine providence, as we declare them of nature
to be. XXXIX. And first let us behold the whole ^^^ '^'"'^^^'
earth, situated in the centre of the world, a sohd The earth
spherical mass gathered into a globe by the natural other*^^
gra\itation of all its parts, clothed \\ith flowers and eiemecta
grass and trees and corn, forms of vegetation all of
them incredibly numerous and inexhaustibly varied
and diverse. Add to these cool fountains ever flowincf,
transparent streams and rivers, their banks clad in
brighest verdure, deep vaulted caverns, craggy rocks,
sheer mountain heights and plains of immeasurable
extent ; add also the hidden veins of gold and silver,
9 and marble in unUmited quantity. Think of all the
various species of animals, both tame and wild! think
of the flights and songs of birds ! of the pastures
filled with cattle, and the teeming hfe of the wood-
lands 1 Then why need I speak of the race of men ?
who are as it were the appointed tillers of the soil, and
who sufFer it not to become a savage haunt of mon-
strous beasts of prey nor a barren waste of thickets
and brambles, and whose industry diversifies and
adornsthe landsandislandsand coasts with houses and
cities. Could we but behold these things with our eyes
as we can picture them in our minds, no one taking
in the whole earth at one view could doubt the divine
>0 reason. Then how great is the beauty of the sea !
how glorious the aspect of its vast expanse ! how many
and how diverse its islands ! how lovely the scenery of
its coasts and shores ! how numerous and how differ-
ent the species of marine animals, some dweUing in
219
CICERO
iimantiiiin beluarum, partim ad saxa nati\as testis
inhaerentium ! Ipsum autem mare sic terram appe-
tens litoribus alludit ut una ex duabus naturis conflata
101 videatur. Exin mari finitumus aer die et nocte di-
stinguitur, isque tum fusus et extenuatus sublime
fertur,tum autem concretus in nubes cogitur umorem-
que colligens terram auget imbribus, tum effluens
huc et illuc ventos efficit. Idem annuas frigorum et
calorum facit varietates, idemque et volatus alitum
sustinet et spiritu^ ductus alit et sustentat animantes.
XL. Restat ultimus et a domiciliis nostris altissimus
omnia cingens et coercens caeh complexus, qui idem
aether vocatur, extrema ora et determinatio mundi,
in quo cum admirabiUtate maxima igneae formae
102 cursus ordinatos definiunt. E quibus sol, cuius ma-
gnitudine multis partibus terra superatur, circum eam
ipsam vol\*itur, isque oriens et occidens diem noctem-
que conficit, et modo accedens tum autem recedens
binas in singuHs annis reversiones ab extremo cor-
trarias f^it, quarum in intervallo tum quasi tristitia
quadam contrahit terram, tum vicissim laetificat ut
103 cum caelo hilarata videatur. Luna autem, quae est,
ut ostendunt mathematici, maior quam dimidia pars
terrae, isdem spatiis vagatur quibus sol, sed tum
congrediens cum sole tum digrediens et eam lucem
quam a sole accepit mittit in terras et varias ipsa
^ spiritu det. : spiritus.
220
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xxxix.— xl.
the depths, some floating and swimming on the siir-
face, some clinging in their own shells to the rocks !
And the sea itself, yearning for the earth, sports
against her shores in such a fashion that the two
101 elements appear to be fused into one. Next the air
bordering on the sea undergoes the alternations of
day and night, and now rises upward melted and
rarefied, now is condensed and compressed into clouds
and gathering moisture enriches the earth with rain,
now flows forth in currents to and fro and produces
winds. Likewise it causes the yearly variations of
cold and heat, and it also both supports the flight of
birds and inhaled by breathing nourishes and sustains
the animal race. XL. There remains the element The sun,
that is most distant and highest removed from our pianete!^
abodes, the all-engirdUng, all-confining circuit of the
sky, also named the aether, the farthest coast and
frontier of the world, wherein those fiery shapes most
102 marvellously trace out their ordered courses. Of
these the sun, which many times surpasses the earth
in magnitude, revolves about her, and by his rising
and setting causes day and night, and now approach-
ing, then again retiring, twice each year makes re-
turns in opposite directions from his farthest point,
and in the period of those returns at one time causes
the face of the earth as it were to contract with a
gloomy frown, and at another restores her to gladness
till she seems to smile in sympathy with the sky.
103 Again the moon, w^hich is, as the mathematicians
(prove, more than half the size of the earth, roams in
the same courses as the sun, but at one time converg-
ing with the sun and at another diverging from it,
both bestows upon the earth the hght that it has
borrowed from the sun and itself undergoes divers
I 221
CICERO
lucis mutationes habet, atque etiam tum subieeta
atque opposita soli radios eius et lumen obscurat, timi
ipsa incidens in umbram terrae, cum est e regione
solis, interpositu interiectuque terrae repente deficit.
Isdemque spatiis eae stellae quas vagas dicimus cir-
cum terram feruntur eodemque modo oriuntur et occi-
dunt, quarum motus tum incitantur, tum retardantur,
104 saepe etiam insistunt. Quo spectaculo nihil potest
admirabiHus esse, nihil pulchrius. Sequitur stellarum
inerrantium maxima multitudo, quarum ita discripta
distinctio est ut ex notarum figurarum similitudine
nomina invenerint."^ XLI. Atque hoc loco me
intuens : " Utar," inquit, " carminibus Arateis, quae a
te admodum adulescentulo conversa ita me delectant
quia Latina sunt ut multa ex iis memoria teneam.
Ergo, ut ocuUs adsidue videmus, sine uUa mutatione
aut varietate
cetera labuntur celeri caelestia motu
cum caeloque simul noctesque diesque fenintur,
105 quorum contemplatione nuUius expleri potest animus
naturae constantiam videre cupientis ;
extremusque adeo duplici de cardine vertex
dicitur^sse polus.
Hunc circum Arctoe duae feruntur numquam occi-
dentes ;
ex his altera apud Graios Cynosura vocatur,
altera dicitur esse Hehce,
1 huc c. xliii. init. atque ita . . , appareat Mayor trans-
ponit.
" Aratus of SoU in Cilicia, Jl. late 3rd cent. b.c. at the
Macedonian court, versified the astronomy of Plato's pupil
Eudoxus, and weather-forecasts, in two pocms, Phaenomena
and Diosemeia. Of Cicero's translation of the former two-
tliirds, of the latter {Prognostica) a few lines survive.
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xl.— xli.
changes of its light, and also at one time is in con-
junction and hides the sun, darkening the hght of its
rays, at another itself comes into the shadow of the
earth, being opposite to the sun, and owing to the
interposition and interference of the earth is sud-
denly extinguished. And the so-called wandering
stars (planets) travel in the same courses round the
earth, and rise and set in the same way, with motions
now accelerated, now retarded, and sometimes even
104 ceasing altogether. Nothing can be more marvellous
or more beautiful than this spectacle. Next comes The con-
the vast multitude of the fixed stars, grouped in con- steiiations.
stellations so clearly defined that they have received
names derived from their resemblance to familiar
objects." XLI. Here he looked at me and said, " I
\yill make use of the poems of Aratus,° as translated
by yourself when quite a young man, which because
of their Latin dress give me such pleasure that I
retain many of them in memory. Well then, as we
continually see with our own eyes, without any change
or variation
Swiftly the other heavenly bodies glide,
All day and night travelling with the sky,
105 and no one who loves to contemplate the uniformity
of nature can ever be tired of gazing at them.
The furthest tip of either axle-end
Is called the pole.
Round the pole circle the two Bears, which never set ;
One of these twain the Greeks call Cynosure,*
The other Helice " is named ;
* ' Dog's tail,' perhaps the curve of the thrce stars.
• 'The spiral,' perhaps of its motion round the pole.
223
CICERO
cuius quidem clarissimas stellas totis noctibus cer-
nimus,
quas nostri Septem soliti vocitare Triones ;
106 paribusque^ stellis similiter distinctis eundem caeli
verticem lustrat parva Cynosura :
hac fidunt duce nocturna Phoenices in alto ;
sed prior illa magis stellis distincta refulget
et late prima confestim a nocte videtur,
haec vero parva est, sed nautis usus in hac est,
nam cursu interiore brevi convertitur orbe.
XLII. Et quo sit earum stellarum admirabilior
aspectus,
has inter, veluti rapido cum gurgite flumen,
torvus Draco serpit subter superaque revolvens
sese couficiensque sinus e corpore flexos.
107 Eius cum totius est praeclara species, <tum>2 in primis
aspicienda est figura capitis atque ardor oculorum :
huic non una modo caput ornans stella relucet,
verum tempora sunt duplici fulgore notata
e trucibusque oculis duo fervida lumina flagrant
atque uno mentnm radianti sidere lucet ;
obstipum caput at tereti cervice reflexum
obtutum in cauda maioris figere dicas.
108 Et reliquum quidem corpus Draconis totis noctibus
cernimus : ^
hoc caput hic paulum sese subito aequore condit,^
ortus ubi atque obitus partem* admiscetur in unam.*
Id autem caput
attingens defessa velut maerentis imago
vertitur,
^ propiusque ? Plasherg. * add. Manutius.
• subito aequore condit Grotius : subitoque recondit.
* partem det. : partim A, B, parti Cochanovius.
^ unam H. Stephanus : una.
* Said to mean ' threshing-oxen.'
S24
I
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xli.— xlii.
and the latter's extremely bright stars, visible to U3
all night long,
Our countrymen the Seven Triones" call ;
.06 and the httle Cynosure consists of an cqual number
of stars similarly grouped, and revolves round the
same pole :
Phoenician sailors place in this their trust
To guide their course by night ; albeit the other
Shines out before and with more radiant stars
At earhest night-fall far and wide is seen,
Yet small though this one is, the mariner
On this reUes, since it revolves upon
An inner circle and a shorter path.
XLII. Also the further to enhance the beauty of
those constellations,
Bctween them, like a river flowing swift,
The fierce-eyed Serpent winds ; in sinuous coils
Over and under twines his snaky frame.
07 His whole appearance is very remarkable, but the
most striking part of him is the shape of his head and
the brilhance of his eyes :
No single shining star his head adorns,
His brows are by a double radiance marked,
And from his cruel eyes two Ughts flash out,
The while his chin gleams with one flashing star ;
His graceful neck is bent, his head recUned,
As if at gaze upon the Great Bear's tail.
108 And while the rest of the Serpent's body is visible all
night long,
This head a moment sinks beneath the sea,
Where meet its setting and its rise in one.
Next to its head however
The weary figure of a man in sorrow
R.evolves,
225
CICERO
quam quidem Graeci
Engonasin vocitant, genibus quia nixa feratur.
hic illa eximio posita est fulgore Corona.
Atque haec quidem a tergo, propter caput autem
Anguitenens,
109 quem claro perhibent Ophiuchum nomine Graii.
hic pressu duplici palmarum continet Anguem,
atque eius ipse manet reHgatus corpore torto,
namque virum medium serpens sub pectora cingit.
ille tamen nitens graviter vestigia ponit
atque oculos urguet pedibus pectusque Nepai.
Septentriones autem sequitur
Arctophylax, vulgo qui dicitur esse Bootes,
quod quasi temoni adiunctam prae se quatit Arctunu
110 Dein quae sequuntur^ : huic enim^ Booti
subter praecordia fixa videtur
stella micans radiis, Arcturus nomine claro,
cuius <pedibus>3 subiecta fertur
spicum inlustre tenens splendenti corpore Virgo.
XLIII. Atque ita dimetata signa sunt ut in tantis
discriptionibus divina sollertia appareat* :
et natos Geminos invises sub caput Arcti,
subiectus mediae est Cancer, pedibusque tenetur
magnus Leo tremulam quatiens e corpore flammam.
Auriga ^
sub laeva Geminorum obductus parte feretur ;
adversum caput huic Hehcae truculenta tuetur,
at Capra laevum umerum clara obtinet.
[Tum quae sequuntur \f
verum haec est magno atque inlustri praedita signo^
contra Haedi exiguum iaciunt mortahbus ignem.
^ dein . . . sequuntur Mayor tr. post Virgo infra.
' enim 07Ji. Mayor. ' add. Davies.
• atque . . . appareat Mayor in c. xl.fin. tr. * Heindorf,
■ Perhaps the harvest began under this sign.
226
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xlii.— xliii.
which the Greeks
Engonasin call, as travelling "on his knees."
Here is the Crown, of radiance supreme.
This is in the rear of the Serpent, while at its head is
the Serpent-holder,
109 By Greeks called Ophiuchiis, famous name !
Firm between both his hands he " holds the Snake,'*
Himself in bondage by its body held,
For serpent round the waist engirdles man.
Yet treads he firm and presses all his weight,
Trampling upon the Scorpion's eyes and breast.
After the Septentriones comes
The Bear-ward, commonly Bootes called,
Because he drives the Bear yoked to a pole.
110 And then the following Hnes : for with this Bootes
beneath his bosom fixed appears
A ghttering star, Arcturus, famous name,
and below his feet moves
The Virgin bright, holding her ear of corn •
Resplendent.
XLIII. And the constellations are so accurately
spaced out that their vast and ordered array clearly
displays the skill of a divine creator ;
By the Bear's head you will descry the Twins,
Beneath its belly the Crab, and in its claws
The Lion's bulk emits a twinkhng ray.
The Charioteer
Hidden beneath the Twins' left flank will ghde^
Him Helice confronts with aspect fierce ;
At his left shoulder the bright She-goat stands.
[And then the following :]
A constellation vast and brilliant she,
Whereas the Kids emit a scanty light
Upon mankind.
227
CICERO
Cuius sub pedibus
corniger est valido conixus^ corpore Taurus.
111 Eius caput stellis conspersum est frequentibus :
has Graeci stellas Hyadas vocitare suerunt,
a pluendo (red' enim est pluere), nostri imperite
Suculas. quasi a subus essent, non ab imbribus nomi-
natae. Minorem autem Septentrionem Cepheus
passis palmis a tergo^ subsequitur :
namque ipsum ad tergum Cynosurae vertitur ArctL
Hunc antecedit
obscura specie stellarum Cassiepia.
hanc autem inlustri versatur corpore propter
Andromeda aufugiens aspectum maesta parentis.
huic Equus ille iubam quatiens fulgore micanti
summum contingit caput alvo, stellaque iungens
una tenet duplices communi lumine formas
aeternum ex astris cupiens conectere nodum.
exin contortis Aries cura cornibus haeret ;
quem propter
Pisces, quorum alter paulum praelabitur ante
et magis horriferis Aquilonis tangitur auris.
112 XLIV. Ad pedes Andromedae Perseus describitur,
quem summa <a>^ regione aquilonis flamina pulsant;
cuius
pTopter laevum genus* omni ex parte locatas
parvas^ Vergilias tenui cum luce videbis.
inde Fides posita et leviter convexa videtur,
inde est ales Avis lato sub tegmine caeli.
Capiti autem Equi proxima est Aquarii dextra totus-
que deinceps Aquarius.
1 connixus dett. : conexus A, B.
2 terga A, B, <post> terga Plasberg.
• Baiter : ab B corr. * genus B corr. : genum.
^ omni . . . parvas B corr. : om. cett,
• See above, § 105.
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xHii.— xliv.
Beneath her feet
Crouches the horn6d Bull, a mighty frame.
1 His head is bespangled with a multitude of stars :
The Greeks were wont to call them Hyades,
from their bringing rain, the Greek for which is hyein,
while our nation stupidly names them the Sucking-
pigs, as though the name Hyades were derived from
the word for ' pig ' and not from ' rain.' Behind the
Lesser Septentrio follows Cepheus, with open hands
outstretched ;
For close behind the Bear, the Cynosure,*
He wheels.
Before him comes
Cassiepia with her darkUng stars,
And next to her roams a bright shape, the sad
Andromeda, shunning her mother's sight.
The belly of the Horse touches her head,
Proudly he tosses high his ghttering mane ;
One common star holds thcir twin shapes conjoint
And constellations Hnked indissohibly.
Close by them stands the Ram with wreathed horns )
and next to him
The Fishes ghding, one some space in front
And nearer to the North Wind's shuddering breath.
2 XLIV. At the feet of Andromeda Perseus is outhned,
Assailed by all the zenith's northern blasts :
and by him
at his left knee placed on every side
The tiny l^k'iads dim you will descry.
And, slightly sloping, next the Lyre is seen,
Next the winged Bird 'neath heaven's wide canopy.
Close to the Horse's head is the right hand of
AquariuSj and then his whole figure.
229
CICERO
tum gelidum valido de pectore frigus anhelans
corpore semifero magno Capricornus in orbe ;
quem cum perpetuo vestivit lumine Titan,
brumali flectens contorquet tempore currum.
113 Hic autem aspicitur
ut sese ostendens emergit Scorpios alte
posteriore trahens plexum^ vi corporis Arcum,
quem propter nitens pinnis convolvitur Ales,
at propter se Aquila ardenti cum corpore portat.
Deinde Delphinus,
exinde Orion obliquo corpore nitens.
114 Quem subsequens
fervidus ille Canis stellarum luce refulget.
Post Lepus subsequitur,
curriculum numquam defesso corpore sedans ;
at Canis ad caudam serpens prolabitur Argo.
hanc Aries tegit et squamoso corpore Pisces
Fluminis inlustri tangentem corpore^ ripas.
Quem longe serpentem et manantem aspicies,
proceraque Vincla videbis,
quae retinent Pisces caudarum a parte locata . • •
inde Nepae cernes propter fulgentis acumen
Aram, quam flatu permulcet spiritus Austri.
Propte#que Centaurus
cedit Equi partis properans subiungere CheHs.
hic dextram porgens, quadrupes qua vasta tenetur,
tendit et inlustrem truculentus cedit ad Aram ;
hic sese infernis e partibus erigit Hydra,
cuius longe corpus est fusum,
in medioque sinu fulgens Cratera relucet,
extremam nitens plumato corpore Corvus
rostro tundit ; et hic Geminis est ille sub ipsis
Ante-Canem,' UpoKviop Graio qui nomine fertur.
* flexum A corr., B corr. ^ pectore Heinsius,
3 Antecanis Lamlinus.
230
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xHv.
Next in the mighty zone comes Capricorn,
Half-brute, half-man ; his mip:hty bosom breathes
An icy chill ; and when the Titan sun
Arrayeth him with never-ceasinja: light,
He turns his car to climb the wintry sky.
113 Here we behold
How there appears the Scorpion rising high,
His mighty tail traiUng the bended Bow ;
Near which on soaring pinions wheels the Bird
And near to this the burning Eagle flies.
Then the Dolphin,
And then Orion slopes his stooping frame.
114 Following him
The glowing Dog-star radiantly shines.
After this follows the Hare.
Who never resteth weary from her race ;
At the Dog's tail meandering Argo ghdes.
Her the Ram covers, and the scaly Fishes,
And her bright breast touches the River's " banks.
Its long winding current you will observe,
And in the zenith you will see the Chains
That bind the Fishes, hanging at their tails. . . .
Then you'll descry, near the bright Scorpion's sting,
The Altar, fanned by Auster's gentle breath.
And by it the Centaur
Proceeds, in haste to join the Horse's parts
Unto the Claws ; extending his right hand,
That grasps the mighty beast, he marches on
And grimly strides towards the Altar bright.
Here Hydra rises from the nether realms,
her body Midely outstretched ;
And in her midmost coil the Wine-bowl gleams,
While pressing at her tail the feathered Crow
Pecks with his beak ; and here, hard by the Twins,
The Hound's Forerunner, in Greek named Prokyon.
• Called Eridanus, and identified with the Po or the Nile.
231
CICERO
115 Haec omnis discriptio siderum atque hic tantus caeli
ornatus ex corporibus huc et illuc casu et temere
cursantibus potuisse effici cuiquam sano videri potest ?
an^ vero alia quae natura mentis et rationis expers
haec efficere potuit? quae non modo ut fierent ratione
eguerunt sed intellegi quaUa sint sine summa ratione
non possunt.
XLV. " Nec vero haec solum admirabiha, sed
nihil maius quam quod ita stabihs est mundus atque
ita cohaeret, ad pei-manendum ut nihil ne excogi-
tari quidem possit aptius, Omnes enim partes eius
undique medium locum capessentes nituntur aequa-
hter. Maxime autem corpora inter se iuncta per-
manent cum quasi quodam vinculo circumdato colh-
gantur ; quod facit ea natura quae per omnem
mundum omnia mente et ratione conficiens funditur
116 et ad medium rapit et convertit extrema. Quocirca
si mundus globosus est ob eamque causam omnes
eius partes undique aequabiles ipsae per se atque
inter se continentur, contingere idem terrae necesse
est, ut omnibus eius partibus in medium vergentibus
(id autem medium infimum in sphaera est) nihil
interrumpat quo labefactari possit tanta contentio
gravitatis et ponderum. Eademque ratione mare,
cum supra terram sit, medium tamen terrae locum
expetens conglobatur undique aequabihter neque
117 redundat umquam neque effunditur. Huic autem
continens aer fertur ille quidem levitate subhmis,*
sed tamen in omnes partes se ipse fundit ; itaque
^ an G, aiat cfitt.
" sublimis i?, suhlimi cett., sublime Orellu
232
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xliv.— xlv.
115 Can any sane person believe that all this array of stars
and this vast celestial adornment could have bcen
created out of atoms rushing to and fro fortuitously
and at random ? or could any other being devoid of
intelligence and reason have created them ? Not
merely did their creation postulate intelHgence, but
it is impossible to understand their nature without
intelligence of a high order.
XLV. " But not only are these things marvellous, The worfd
but nothing is more remarkable than the stabihty part.fheld
and coherence of the world, which is such that it is together
impossible even to imagine anything better adapted petaiforca.
to endure. For all its parts in every direction gravi-
tate with a uniform pressure towards the centre.
Moreover bodies conjoined maintain their union most
permanently when they have some bond encompass-
ing them to bind them together ; and this function is
fulfilled by that rational and intelHgent substance
which pervades the whole world as the efhcient cause
of all things and which draws and collects the outer-
116 most particles towards the centre. Hence if the world
is round and therefore all its parts are held together
by and with each other in universal equiUbrium, the
same must be the case with the earth, so that all its
parts must converge towards the centre (which in a
sphere is the lowest point) without anything to break
the continuity and so threaten its vast complex of
gravitational forces and masses with dissolution. And
on the same principle the sea, although above the
earth, nevertheless seeks the earth's centre and so is
massed into a sphere uniform on all sides, and never
117 floods its bounds and overflows. Its neighbour the
air travels upward it is true in virtue of its hghtness,
but at the same time spreads horizontally in all
233
CICERO
et mari continuatus et iunctus est et natura fertur ad
caelum, cuius tenuitate et calore temperatus vitalem
et salutarem spiritum praebet animantibus. Quem
complexa summa pars caeli, quae aetheria dicitur, et
suum retinet ardorem tenuem et nuUa admixtione
concretum et cum aeris extremitate coniungitur.
XLVI. In aethere autem astra volvuntur, quae se
et nisu suo conglobata continent et forma ipsa
figuraque sua momenta sustentant ; sunt enim
rotunda, quibus formis, ut ante dixisse videor,
118 minime noceri potest. Sunt autem stellae natura
flanmieae, quocirca terrae maris aquarum^ vaporibus
aluntur iis qui a sole ex agris tepefactis et ex aquis
excitantur ; quibus altae renovataeque stellae atque
omnis aether refundunt eadem et rursum trahunt
indidem, nihil ut fere intereat aut admodum paululum
quod astrorum ignis et aetheris flamma consumit.
Ex quo eventurum nostri putant id de quo Panaetium
addubixare dicebant, ut ad extremum omnis mundus
ignesceret, cum umore consumpto neque terra ali
posset nec remearet aer, cuius ortus aqua omni
exhausta esse non posset ; ita rehnqui nihil praeter
ignem, a quo rursum animante ac deo renovatio
* aquarumque reliquarum Probus^ Pldsherg.
• See § 47.
234
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xlv.— xlvi.
directions ; and thus while contiguous and conjoined
vdih the sea it has a natural tendency to rise to the
sky, and by receiving an admixture of the sky's tenu-
ity and heat furnishes to H\-ing creatures the breath
of hfe and health. The air is enfolded by the highest
part of the sky, termed the ethereal part ; this both
retains its own tenuous warmth uncongealed by any
admixture and unites with the outer surface of the
air. XLVI. In the aether the stars revolve in their
courses ; these maintain their spherical form by their
ovm. internal gravitation, and also sustain their
motions by ^irtue of their very shape and conforma-
tion ; for they are round, and this is the shape, as I
beheve I remarked before,'* that is least capable of
118 recei-ving injury. But the stars are of a fiery sub-
stance, and for this reason they are nourished by the
vapours of the earth, the sea and the waters, which
are raised up by the sun out of the fields which it
warms and out of the waters ; and when nourished
and renewed by these vapours the stars and the whcle
aether shed them back again, and then once more
draw them up from the same source, with the loss of
none of their matter, or only of an extremely small
part which is consumed by the fire of the stars and
the flame of the aether. x\s a consequence of this, me cyciicai
so our school beheve, though it used to be said that ofth^/S^uJ
Panaetius questioned the doctrine, there will ulti-
mately occur a conflagration of the whole world, be-
cause when the moisture has been used up neither
can the earth be nourished nor vdW the air continue
to flow, being unable to rise upward after it has drunk
up all the water ; thus nothing \vi\\ remain but fire,
by which, as a h\-ing being and a god, once again a
new world may be created and the ordered universe
235
CICERO
119 mundi fieret atque idem ornatus oreretur. Nolo
in stellarum ratione multus vobis videri, maxime-
que earum quae errare dicuntur ; quarum tantus
est concentus ex dissimillimis motibus ut, cum
summa Saturni refrigeret, media Martis incendat,
his interiecta lovis inlustret et temperet infraque
Martem duae soli oboediant, ipse sol mundum
omnem sua luce compleat ab eoque luna inluminata
graviditates et partus adferat maturitatesque gi-
gnendi. Quae copulatio rerum et quasi consentiens
ad mundi incolumitatem coagmentatio naturae
quem non movet, hunc horum nihil imiquam reputa-
visse certo scio.
120 XLVII. " Age ut a caelestibus rebus ad terrestres
veniamus, quid est in his in quo non naturae ratio
intellegentis appareat ? Principio eorum quae gi-
gnuntur e terra stirpes et stabilitatem dant iis
quae sustinent et e terra sucum trahunt quo alantur
ea quae radicibus continentur ; obducunturque libro
aut cortice trunci quo sint a frigoribus et caloribus
tutiores. lam vero vites sic claviculis adminicula
tamq«am manibus adprehendunt atque ita se
erigunt ut animantes. Quin etiam a cauhbus,^
si propter sati sint, ut a pestiferis et nocentibus
refugere dicuntur nec eos ulla ex parte contingere.
121 Animantium vero quanta varietas est, quanta
ad eam rem vis ut in suo quaeque genere per-
maneat ! Quarum aliae coriis tectae sunt ahae villis
vestitae ahae spinis hirsutae ; pluma alias alias
^ caulibus det. i caulibus brassicis A, B, a, brassicae
Plasberg.
236
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xl^i.— xlvii.
119 be restored as before. I would not have you think Co-operatioK
that I dwell too long upon astronomy, and particu- pianete.
larly upon the system of the stars called planets ;
these with the most diverse movements work in such
mutual harmony that the uppermost, that of Saturn,
has a coohng influence, the middle planet, that of
Mars, imparts heat, the one between them, that of
Jove, gives hght and a moderate warmth, while the
two beneath Mars obey the sun, and the sun itself
fills all the world with light, and also illuminates the
moon, which is the source of conception and birth
and of gro^vth and maturity. If any man is not
impressed by this co-ordination of things and this
harmonious combination of nature to secure the pre^
servation of the world, I know for certain that he has
never given any consideration to these matters.
120 XLVII. " To come now from things celestial to The wonders
things terrestrial, which is there among these latter ufe!^^^^ ^^
which does not clearly display the rational design of
an inteUigent being ? In the first place, with the
vegetation that springs from the earth, the stocks
both give stability to the parts which they sustain
and draw from the ground the sap to nourish the
parts upheld by the roots ; and the trunks are covered
with bark or rind, the better to protect them against
cold and heat. Again the vines cUng to their props
with their tendrils as with hands, and thus raise them-
selves erect Hke animals. Nay more, it is said that if
planted near cabbages they shun them hke pestilential
and noxious things, and will not touch them at any Thewonders
121 point. Again what a variety there is of animals, lifer^/t^
and what capacity they possess of persisting true to ?or^fhe^'°°
their various kinds ! Some of them are protected preservation
by hides, others are clothed with fleeces, others bristle hldiiidQai.
237
CICERO
squama \ademus obductas, alias esse cornibus arma-
tas, alias habere efFugia pinnarum. Pastum autem
animantibus large et copiose natura eum qui cuique
aptus erat comparaiit. Enumerare possum ad
eum pastum capessendum conficiendumque quae
sit in figuris animantium et quam sollers subtilisque
discriptio partium quamque admirabilis fabrica
membrorum. Omnia enim, quae quidem intus
inclusa sunt, ita nata atque ita locata sunt ut nihil
eorum supervacaneum sit, nihil ad vitam retinendam
122 non necessarium. Dedit autem eadem natura beluis
et sensum et appetitum, ut altero conatum haberent
ad naturales pastus capessendos, altero secemerent
pestifera a salutaribus. lam vero aUa animalia gra-
diendo aUa serpendo ad pastum accedunt, aha volando
aha nando, cibumque partim oris hiatu et dentibus
ipsis capessunt, partim unguium tenacitate arri-
piunt, partim aduncitate rostrorum, alia sugunt
aha carpunt aha vorant aUa mandunt. Atque etiam
ahoriim ea est humilitas ut cibum terrestrem rostris
123 facile contingant ; quae autem altiora sunt, ut
anseres ut cygni ut grues ut cameh, adiuvantur
proceritate coUorum ; manus etiam data elephanto
est, quia propter magnitudinem corporis difficiles
aditus habebat ad pastum. XLVIII. At quibus be-
stiis erat is cibus ut aUus^ generis bestiis^ vesceren-
tur, aut vires natura dedit aut celeritatem. Data est
^ alius det. : aliis.
• bestiis dett. : escis J, B (animalis generis escis ? Plasberg),
238
DE NATURA DEORUM, 11. xlvii.— xlviii.
with spines ; some we see covered with feathers,
some Mith scales, some armed Mith horns, some
equipped with wings to escape their foes. Nature,
however, has provided -v^ith bounteous plenty for
each species of animal that food which is suited to it.
I might show in detail what provision has been made
in the forms of the animals for appropriating and
assimilating this food, how skilful and exact is the
disposition of the various parts, how marvellous the
structure of the hmbs. For all the organs, at least
those contained within the body, are so formed and so
placed that none of them is superfluous or not neces-
22 sary for the preservation of Hfe. But nature has also
bestowed upon the beasts both sensation and desire,
the one to arouse in them the impulse to appropriate
their natural foods, the other to enable them to
distinguish things harmful from things wholesome.
Again, some animals approach their food by walking,
some by crawling, some by flying, some by s^vimming ;
and some seize their nutriment with their gaping
mouth and ^\ith the teeth themselves, others snatch
it in the grasp of their claws, others with their curved
beaks, some suck, others graze, some swallow it
whole, others chew it. Also some are of such lowly
stature that they easily reach their food upon the
23 ground ^\-ith their jaws ; whereas the taller species,
such as geese, swans, cranes and camels, are aided
by the length of their necks ; the elephant is
even provided ^^ith a hand, because his body is so
large that it was difficult for him to reach his food.
XLVIII. Those beasts on the other hand whose
mode of sustenance was to feed on animals of
another species received from nature the gift either
of strength or swiftness. Upon certain creatures
239
CICEllO
quibusdam etiam machinatio quaedam atque soller-
tia, ut in araneolis aliae quasi rete texunt, ut si quid
inhaeserit conficiant, aliae autem ut^ . . . ex inopinato
observant et si quid incidit arripiunt idque con-
sumunt. Pina vero (sic enim Graece dicitur) duabus
grandibus patula conchis cum parva squilla quasi
societatem coit comparandi cibi, itaque cum piscicuh
par\i in concham hiantem innataverunt, tum ad-
monita <a>* squilla^ pina morsu* comprimit conchas ;
sic dissimiUimis bestioHs communiter cibus quaeritur.
124 In quo admirandum est congressune ahquo inter se
an iam inde ab ortu natura ipsa congregatae sint.
Est etiam admiratio non nulla in bestiis aquatihbus
iis quae gignuntur in terra : veluti crocodih fluvia-
tilesque testudines quaedamque serpentes ortae
extra aquam simul ac primum niti possunt aquam
persequuntur. Quin etiam anitum ova gaUinis
saepe supponimus, e quibus pulh orti primo aluntur
ab iis ut a matribus a quibus exclusi fotique sunt,
deinde eas rehnquunt et efFugiunt sequentes, cum
primum aquam quasi naturalem domum \idere
potuerunt : tantam ingenuit animantibus conser-
van^i sui natura custodiam. XLIX. Legi etiam
scriptum esse avem quandam quae platalea nomi-
naretur ; eam sibi cibum quaerere advolantem ad
eas avis quae se in mari mergerent, quae cum emer-
sissent piscemque cepissent, usque eo premere earum
capita mordicus dum ihae captum amitterent, in quod
^ ut om, det. : lacunam mdicavit Mayor.
■ <a> add. det. ' squillae ed. vet.
* morsus mss. : squillae morsu pina Heindorf.
* A variant gives " the shrimp draws the attention of the
iiiussel by giving: it a nip, and the mussel shuts up its shells."
" Aristotle, Hi;it. An. ix. 10.
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xlviii.— xlix.
there was bestowed even a sort of craft or cun-
ning : for instance, one species of the spider tribe
weaves a kind of net, in order to dispatch anything
that is caught in it ; another in order to . . .
stealthily keeps watch, and, snatching anything that
falls into it, devours it. The mussel, or pina as it is
called in Greek, is a large bivalve which enters into
a sort of partnership with the tiny shrimp to procure
food, and so, when little fishes swim into the gaping
shell. the shrimp draws the attention of the mussel
and the mussel shuts up its shells with a snap " ; thus
two very dissimilar creatures obtain their food in
124 common. In this case we are curious to know whether
their association is due to a sort of mutual compact, or
whether it was brought about by nature herself and
goes back to the moment of their birth. Our wonder
is also considerably excited by those aquatic animals
which are born on land — crocodiles, for instance, and
water-tortoises and certain snakes, Mhich are born
on dry land but as soon as they can first crawl make
for the water. Again we often place ducks' eggs
beneath hens, and the chicks that spring from the
eggs are at first fed and mothered by the hens that
hatched and reared them, but later on they leave
their foster-mothers, and run away when they pursue
them, as soon as they have had an opportunity of
seeing the water, their natural home. So powerful
an instinct of self-preservation has nature implanted
in living creatures. XLIX. I have even read in a
book ^ that there is a bird called the spoonbill, which
procures its food by flying after those birds which
dive in the sea, and upon their coming to the surface
with a fish that they have caught, pressing their heads
down with its beak until they drop their prey, which
241
CICERO
ipsa invaderet. Eademque haec avis scribitur con-
chis se solere complere easque cum stomachi calore
concoxerit evomere, atque ita eligere ex iis quae sunt^
125 esculenta. Ranae autem marinae dicuntur obruere
sese harena solere et moveri prope aquam, ad quas
quasi ad escam pisces cum accesserint confici a ranis
atque consumi. Miluo est quoddam bellum quasi
naturale cum corvo ; ergo alter alterius ubicumque
nanctus est ova frangit. Illud vero (ab Aristotele
animadversum a quo pleraque) quis potest non
mirari, grues cum loca calidiora petentes maria
transmittant trianguH efficere formam ? eius autem
summo angulo aer ab iis adversus pelhtur, deinde
sensim ab utroque latere tamquam remis ita pinnis
cursus a\aum levatur ; basis autem trianguh, quem^
efficiunt grues, ea tamquam a puppi ventis adiuvatur ;
eaeque in tergo praevolantium colla et capita
reponunt ; quod quia ipse dux facere non potest,
quia noh habet ubi nitatur, revolat ut ipse quoque
quiescat, in eius locum succedit ex iis quae adquie-
runt, eaque vicissitudo in omni cursu conservatur.
126 Multa eius modi proferre possum, sed genus ipsum
videtis. lam vero illa etiam notiora, quanto se opere
custodiant bestiae, ut in pastu circumspectent, ut in
cubiUbus dehtiscant. L. Atque illa mirabiha,
quod — ea quae nuper, id est paucis ante saecHs,^
^ sint Ernesti.
* quem dett. : quam. ^ id . . . saeclis secl. Cohet.
" Cicero seems to have omitted or misunderstood some-
thing in Aristotle ; the passage quoted is not in his extant
works. Pliny, N.H. x. 63, tells the same thing of wild
geese and swans, saying a tergo sensim dilatante se cuneo
fiorrigitur agmen, ' the column widens out at the rear with
the gradual broadening of the wedge.'
242
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. xlix.— 1.
it poiinces on for itself. It is also recorded of this bird
that it is in the habit of gorging itself with shell-fish,
which it digests by means of the heat of its stomach
and then brings up again, and so picks out from them
125 the parts that are good to eat. Sea-frogs again are
said to be in the habit of covering themselves with
sand and creeping along at the water's edge, and
then when fishes approach them thinking they are
something to eat, these are killed and devoured by
the frogs. The kite and the crow live in a state of
natural war as it were with one another, and there-
fore each destroys the other's eggs wherever it finds
them. Another fact (observed by Aristotle, from
whom most of these cases are cited) cannot but
awaken our surprise, namely that cranes when cross-
ing the seas on the way to warmer cHmates fly in a
triangular formation. With the apex of the triangle
they force aside the air in front of them, and then
gradually on either side ^ by means of their ^vings
acting as oars the birds' onward flight is sustained,
while the base of the triangle formed by the cranes
gets the assistance of the wind when it is so to speak
astern. The birds rest their necks and heads on the
backs of those flying in front of them ; and the leader,
being himself unable to do this as he has no one to lean
on, flies to the rear that he himself also may have a
rest, while one of those already rested takes his place,
126 and so they keep turns throughout the journey. I
could adduce a number of similar instances, but you
see the general idea. Another evenbetterknownclass
of stories illustrates the precautions taken by animals
for their security, the watch they keep while feeding,
their skill in hiding in their lairs. L. Other
remarkable facts are that dogs cure themselves by
243
CICERO
medicorum ingeniis reperta sunt — vomitione canes,
purgando^ autem alvo se ibes^ Aegyptiae curant.
Auditum est pantheras, quae in barbaria venenata
carne caperentur, remedium quoddam habere quo
cum essent usae non morerentur, capras autem in
Creta feras, cum essent confixae venenatis sagittis,
herbam quaerere quae dictamnus vocaretur, quam
cum gustavissent sagittas excidere dicunt e corpore.
127 Cervaeque paulo ante partum perpurgant se quadam
herbula quae seselis dicitur. lam illa cernimus, ut
contra vim et metum suis se armis quaeque de-
fendant cornibus tauri, apri dentibus, morsu leones ;
aliae fuga se aliae occultatione tutantur, atramenti
effusione sepiae torpore torpedines, multae etiam in-
sectantis odoris intolerabili foeditate depellunt.
LI. " Ut vero perpetuus mundi esset ornatus, magna
adhibita cura est a providentia deorum ut semper
essent et bestiarum genera et arborum omnium-
que rerum quae a terra stirpibus continerentur. Quae
quidem omnia eam vim seminis habent in se ut ex
uno plura generentur, idque semen inclusum est in
intuYna parte earum bacarum quae ex quaque stirpe
funduntur ; isdemque seminibus et homines adfatim
vescuntur et terrae eiusdem generis stirpium renova-
128 tione conplentur. Quid loquar quanta ratio in be-
stiis ad perpetuam conservationem earum generis
appareat ? Nam primum ahae mares ahae feminae
sunt, quod perpetuitatis causa machinata natura est,
* purgando Plasherg : purgante, purgantes M88.
• alvo sibis etc. mss. : purgantes autem alvos ibes Ae-
gyi>liae curantur Madvig,
244
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. 1.— li.
vomiting and ibises in Egypt by purging — modes of
treatment only recently, that is, a few generations
ago, discovered by the talent of the medical profes-
sion. It has been reported that panthers, which in
foreign countries are caught by means of poisoned
meat, have a remedy which they employ to save
themselves from dying ; and that ^^ild goats in Crete,
when pierced with poisoned arrows, seek a herb
called dittany, and on their swallowing this the
27 arrows, it is said, drop out of their bodies. Does,
shortly before giving birth to their young, thoroughly
purge themselves with a herb called hartwort.
Again we observe how various species defend them-
selves against violence and danger with their own
weapons, bulls with their horns, boars ^vith their
tusks, hons ^^ith their bite ; some species protect
themselves by flight, some by hiding, the cuttle-fish
by emitting an inky fluid, the sting-ray by causing
cramp, and also a number of creatures drive away
their pursuers by their insufferably disgusting odour.
LI. " In order to secure the everlasting duration ihe
of the world-order, divine providence has made most a^^ai^tation
careiul provision to ensure the perpetuation oi the aud animai
famihes of animals and of trees and all the vegetable for the per-
species. The latter all contain within them seed petuation
possessing the property of multiplying the species ; ° ^^^^^^-
this seed is enclosed in the innermost part of the
fruits that grow from each plant ; and the same seeds
supply mankind v,-iih an abundance of food, besides
replenishing the earth with a fresh stock of plants of
28 the same kind. Why should I speak of the amount
of rational design displayed in animals to secure the
perpetual preservation of their kind ? To begin with
some are male and some female, a device of nature
245
CICERO
deinde partes corporis et ad procreandum et ad con-
cipiendum aptissimae, et in mare et in femina com-
miscendorum corporum mirae libidines. Cum autem
in locis semen insedit, rapit omnem fere cibum ad
sese eoque saeptum^ fingit animal ; quod cum ex
utero elapsum excidit, in iis animantibus quae lacte
aluntur omnis fere cibus matrum lactescere incipit,
eaque quae paulo ante nata sunt sine magistro duce
natura mammas appetunt earumque ubertate satu-
rantur. Atque ut intellegamus nihil horum esse for-
tuitum et haec omnia esse opera providae sollertisque
naturae, quae multiplices fetus procreant, ut sues ut
canes, iis mammarum data est multitudo, quas eas-
dem paucas habent eae bestiae quae pauca gignunt.
129 Quid dicam quantus amor bestiarum sit in educandis
custodiendisque iis quae procreaverunt, usque ad eum
finem dum possint se ipsa defendere ? etsi pisces, ut
aiunt, ova cum genuerunt rehnquunt, facile enim illa
aqua et sustinentur et fetum fundunt. LII. Testu-
dines autem et crocodilos dicunt, cum in terra partum
ediderint, obruere ova, deinde discedere ; ita et
nascuntur et educantur ipsa per sese. lam gaUinae
avesque reliquae et quietum requirunt ad pariendum
locum et cubilia sibi nidosque construunt eosque quam
possunt mollissume substernunt, ut quam facillume
ova serventur ; e quibus puUos cum excuderunt, ita
tuentur ut et pinnis foveant ne frigore laedantur et
^ ex eoque conceptum {vel coeptum) ? Mayor.
" Perhaps the text should be emended to give, *and
fashions a living creature conceived therefrom.*
246
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. li.— lii.
to perpctuate the species. Then parts of their bodies
are most skilfully contrived to serve the purposes of
procreation and of conception, and both male and
female possess marvellous desires for copulation.
And when the seed has settled in its place, it draws
ahiiost all the nutriment to itself and hedged within
it fashions a h\-ing creature ^ ; w^hen this has been
dropped from the womb and has emerged, in
the mammahan species ahnost all the nourishment
received by the mother turns to milk, and the young
just born, untaught and by nature's guidance, seek
for the teats and satisfy their cra^ings \\ith their
bounty. And to show to us that none of these things
merely happens by chance and that all are the work
of nature's providence and skill, species that produce
large Htters of offspring, such as swine and dogs, have
bestowed upon them a large number of teats, while
those animals which bear only a few young have only
29 a few teats. Why should I describe the affection
shown by animals in rearing and protecting the ofF-
spring to which they have given birth, up to the point
when they are able to defend themselves ? although
fishes, it is said, abandon their eggs when they have
laid them, since these easily float and hatch out in
the water. LII. Turtles and crocodiles are said to
lay their eggs on land and bury them and then go
away, leaving their young to hatch and rear them-
selves. Hens and other birds find a quiet place in
which to lay, and build themselves nests to sit on,
covering these with the softest possible bedding in
order to preserve the eggs most easily ; and when
they have hatched out their chicks they protect them
by cherishing them with their wings so that they
may not be injured by cold, and by shading them
247
CICERO
si est calor a sole se opponant. Cum autem pulli
pinnulis uti possunt, tum volatus eorum matres
130 prosequuntur, reliqua cura liberantur. Accedit ad
non nullorum animantium et earum rerum quas terra
gignit conservationem et salutem hominum etiam
sollertia et diligentia. Nam multae et pecudes et
stirpes sunt quae sine procuratione hominum salvae
esse non possunt.
" Magnae etiam opportunitates ad cultum homi-
num atque abundantiam ahae aliis in locis reperiun-
tur. Aegvptum Nilus inrigat et, cum tota aestate
obrutam oppletamque tenuit, tum recedit moUitos-
que et oblimatos agros ad serendum rehnquit.
Mesopotamiam fertilem efhcit Euphrates, in quam
quotannis^ quasi novos agros invehit. Indus vero,
qui est omnium fluminum maximus, non aqua solum
agros laetificat et mitigat sed eos etiam conserit ; mag-
nam enim vim seminum secum frumenti simihum
131 dicitur deportare. Multaque aha in ahis locis com-
memorabilia proferre possum, multos fertiles agros
ahos ahorum fructuum. LIII. Sed iha quanta
benignitas naturae, quod tam multa ad vescendum,
tam varia et tam iucunda gignit, neque ea uno
tempore anni, ut semper et novitate delectemur
et copia ! Quam tempestivos autem dedit, quam
salutares non modo hominum sed etiam pecudum
generi, iis denique omnibus quae oriuntur e terra,
ventos Etesias ! quorum flatu nimii temperantur
calores, ab isdem etiam maritimi cursus celeres et
certi deriguntur. MuUa praetereunda sunt [et
^ quotannis Rom. : quod annos, quot annos mss.
° Trade-winds hlowing periodically (Iroy, ' year ') from
N.-W. and otlier quarters.
248
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. lii.— liii.
against the heat of the sun. When the young birds
are able to use their sprouting wings, their mothers
escort them in their flights, but are released from any
30 further tendance upon them. Moreover the skill and
industry of man also contribute to the preservation
and security of certain animals and plants. For there
are many species of both which could not survive
without man's care.
" Also a plentiful variety of conveniences is found The adapta-
in different regions for the productive cultivation of J'°jjj.°^^j
the soil by man. Egypt is watered by the Nile, nature
which keeps the land completely flooded all the pTeseAation
summer and afterwards retires leaving the soil soft ^^'^ .
CODVCDIGDCG
and covered with mud, in readiness for sowing. ofman.
Mcsopotamia is fertihzed by the Euphrates, which as
it were imports into it new fields every year. The
Indus, the largest river in the world, not only manures
and softens the soil but actually sows it with seed, for
it is said to bring down with it a great quantity of seeds
31 resembhng corn. And I could produce a number of
other remarkable examples in a variety of places, and
instance a variety of lands each proUfic in a different
kind of produce. LIII. But how great is the benevo-
lence of nature, in giving birth to such an abundance
and variety of dehcious articles of food, and that not
at one season only of the year, so that we have con-
tinually the dehghts of both novelty and plenty !
How seasonable moreover and how wholesome not
for the human race alone but also for the animal
and the various vegetable species is her gift of the
Etesian winds " ! their breath modcrates the excessive
heat of summer, and they also guide our ships across
the sea upon a s^vift and steady course. Many in-
stances must be passed over [and yet many are
249
CICERO
132 tamen multa dicuntur].^ Enumerari enim non
possunt fluminum opportunitates, aestus maritimi
multumt^ aecedentes et recedentes, montes vestiti
atque silvestres, salinae ab ora maritima remo-
tissimae, medicamentorum salutarium plenissimae
terrae, artes^ denique innumerabiles ad victum et ad
vitam necessariae. lam diei noctisque ^ncissitudo
conservat animantes tribuens aliud agendi tempus
aliud quiescendi. Sic undique omni ratione con-
cluditur mente consilioque divino omnia in hoc mundo
ad salutem omnium conservationemque admirabiliter
administrari.
133 " Hic* quaeret quispiam, cuiusnam causa tantarum
rerum molitio facta sit ? Arborumne et herbarum,
quae quamquam sine sensu sunt tamen a natura sus-
tinentur ? At id quidem absurdum est. An bestia-
rum ? Nihilo probabilius deos mutorum^ et nihil
intellegentium causa tantum laborasse. Quorum
igitur causa quis dixerit efFectum esse mundum ?
Eorum scilicet animantium quae ratione utuntur ;
hi sunt di et homines, quibus profecto nihil est
melius, ratio est enim quae praestet omnibus. Ita
fit credibile deorurn et hominum causa factum esse
mundum quaeque in eo [mundo]^ sint omnia.
LIV. ** Faciliusque intellegetur a dis inmortalibus
hominibus esse provisum si erit tota hominis fabricatio
perspecta omnisque humanae naturae figura atque
^ secl. Miiller.
* multumt : <si>mulcum <luna> P/as6(?r^ (cum luna simul
Alan). 3 utilitates Koch.
* hic dett., sin A^ B. ^ mutorum Davies: mutarum.
* [mundo] edd., om. E, L, O.
" Probably an interpolated note.
250
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. liii.— liv.
2 given]." For it is impossible to recount the conveni-
ences afforded by rivers, the ebb and flow * . . . of the
tides of the sea, the mountains clothed with forests,
the salt-beds lying far inland from the sea-coast, the
copious stores of health-giving medicines that the
earth contains, and all the countless arts necessary
for Uvehhood and for hfe. Again the alternation of
day and night contributes to the preservation of
hving creatures by affording one time for activity and
another for repose. Thus every hne of reasoning goes
to prove that all things in this world of ours are mar-
vellously governed by divine intelhgence and wdsdom
for the safety and preservation of all.
3 " Here somebody will ask, for whose sake was all
this vast system contrived ? For the sake of the trees
and plants, for these, though without sensation, have
their sustenance from nature ? But this at any rate
is absurd. Then for the sake of the animals ? It is
no more hkely that the gods took all this trouble for
the sake of dumb, irrational creatures. For whose
sake then shall one pronounce the world to have been
created ? Doubtless for the sake of those hving
beings which have the use of reason ; these are the
gods and mankind, who assuredly surpass all other
things in excellence, since the most excellent of all
things is reason. Thus we are led to beheve that the
world and all the things that it contains were made
for the sake of gods and men.
LIV. " And that man has been cared for by divine Thehand of
pro^ddence ^vill be more readily understood if we seen inThe
survey the whole structure of man and all the con- stnicture
4 formation and perfection of human nature. There are of man:
* The text may have been corrupted, and may have run
* ebb and flow with the moon.'
251
CICERO
134 perfectio. Nam cum tribus rebus animantium vita
teneatur, cibo potione spiritu, ad haec omnia per-
cipienda os est aptissimum, quod adiunctis naribus
spiritu augetur. Dentibus autem in ore constructis
manditur^ atque ab iis^ extenuatur et mollitur cibus.
Eorum adversi acuti morsu di\adunt escas, intimi
autem conficiunt qui genuini vocantur, quae confectio
135 etiam a lingua adiuvari videtur. Linguam autem ad
radices eius haerens excipit stomachus, quo primum
inlabuntur ea quae accepta sunt ore. Is utraque ex
parte tosillas attingens palato extremo atque intimo
terminatur. Atque is agitatione et motibus hnguae
cum depulsum et quasi detrusum cibum accepit,
depeUit : ipsius autem partes eae quae sunt infra
quam id quod devoratur dilatantur, quae autem supra
136 contrahuntur. Sed cum aspera arteria — sic enim
a medicis appellatur — ostium habeat adiunctum
Hnguae radicibus paulo supra quam ad Hnguam
stomachus adnectitur, eaque ad pulmones usque
pertineat excipiatque animam eam quae ducta est
spiritu, eandemque a pulmonibus respiret et reddat,
tegitur quodam quasi operculo, quod ob eam causam
datum est ne si quid in eam cibi forte incidisset
spiritus impediretur. Sed cum alvi natura subiecta
stomacho cibi et potionis sit receptaculum, pulmones
autem et cor extrinsecus spiritum ducant, in alvo
multa sunt mirabihter eifecta, quae constat fere e
* mandatur ci. Alan. * ab iis secl. Baiter.
*• A plausible emendation of the text gives ' Within the
mouth is the structure of the teeth, to which the food is
handed over {mandatur) and by which it is divided up and
softened.'
^ The Greek tracheia arteria, ' rough artery ' (air-ducta
and blood-vessels not being distinguished).
252
DE NATURA DEORUM. II. liv.
three things requisite for the maintenance of aninial provision
Hfe, food, drink and breath ; and for the reception of support of
all of these the mouth is most consummately adapted, |.0Q(j'^^Q(f^
receiving as it does an abundant supply of breath air ;
through the nostrils which communicate with it.
The structure of the teeth within the mouth serves
to chew the food, and it is divided up and softened by
them.° The front teeth are sharp, and bite our viands
into pieces ; the back teeth, called molars, masticate
them, the process of mastication apparently being
\5 assisted also by the tongue. Next to the tongue
comes the gullet, which is attached to its roots, and
into which in the first place pass the substances
that have been received in the mouth. The guUet is
adjacent to the tonsils on either side of it, and reaches
as far as the back or innei-most part of the palate.
The action and movements of the tongue drive and
thrust the food down into the gullet, which receives
it and drives it further down, the parts of the gullet
below the food that is being swallowed dilating and
}6 the parts above it contracting. The windpipe, or
trachea ^ as it is termed by physicians, has an orifice
attached to the roots of the tongue a little above the
point where the tongue is joined to the gullet ; it
reaches to the lungs, and receives the air inhaled by
breathing, and also exhales it and passes it out from
the lungs ; it is covered by a sort of hd, provided for
the purpose of preventing a morsel of food from
accidentally falling into it and impeding the breath.
Below the gullet lies the stomach, which is constructed
as the receptacle of food and drink, whereas breath
is inhaled by the lungs and heart. The stomach per-
forms a number of remarkable operations ; its struc-
ture consists principally of muscular fibres, and it is
K 253
CICERO
nervis, est autem multiplex et tortuosa, arcetque et
continet sive illud aridum est sive umidum quod
recepit, ut id mutari et concoqui possit, eaque tum
astringitur tum relaxatur, atque omne quod accepit
cogit et confundit, ut facile et calore, quem multum
habet, et terendo cibo et praeterea spiritu omnia
cocta atque confecta in reliquum corpus dividantur.
LV. In pulmonibus autem inest raritas quaedam et
adsitnilis spongiis mollitudo ad hauriendum spiritum
aptissima, qui tum se contrahunt adspirantes, tum
in respiratu dilatantur, ut frequenter ducatur cibus
137 animaUs quo maxime aluntur animantes. Ex inte-
stinis autem alvo^ secretus a rehquo cibo sucus is quo
ahmur permanat ad iecur per quasdam a medio in-
testino usque ad portas iecoris (sic enim appellantur)
ductas et derectas vias, quae pertinent ad iecur eique
adhaerent ; atque inde ahae <aHo>2 pertinentes sunt,
per quas cadit cibus a iecore dilapsus. Ab eo cibo
cum est secreta biUs eique umores qui e renibus pro-
funduntur, rehqua se in sanguinem vertunt ad eas-
demque portas iecoris confluunt, ad quas omnes eius
viae pertinent ; per quas lapsus cibus in hoc ipso loco
in eam venam quae cava appellatur confunditur per-
que eam ad cor confectus iam coctusque^ perlabitur ;
a corde autem in totum corpus distribuitur per venas
admodum multas in omnes partes corporis pertinentes.
138 Quem ad modum autem rehquiae cibi depellantur
tum astringentibus se intestinis tum relaxantibus,
^ alvo om. dett. ^ Ueindorf: <ad renes> Jscemsius.
' Ascensius : coactusque mss., concoctusque Madvig.
<* The phleps koile, the great trunk vein.
254
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. liv.— Iv.
manifold and twisted ; it compresses and contains
the dry or moist nutriment that it receives, enabling
it to be assimilated and digested ; at one moment it
is astricted and at another relaxed, thus pressing and
mixing together all that is passed into it, so that by
means of the abundant heat which it possesses, and by
its crushing the food, and also by the operation of the
breath, everything is digested and worked up so as to
be easily distributed throughout the rest of the body.
LV. The lungs on the contrary are soft and of a loose
and spongy consistency, well adapted to absorb the
breath ; which they inhale and exhale by altemately
contracting and expanding, to provide frequent
draughts of that aerial nutriment which is the chief
137 support of animal Ufe. The ahmentary juice secreted
from the rest of the food by the stomach flows from
the bowels to the hver through certain ducts or
channels reaching to the Hver, to w^hich they are
attached, and connecting up what are called the
doorways of the hver with the middle intestine.
From the hver different channels pass in difFerent
directions, and through these falls the food passed
down from the hver. From this food is secreted bile,
and the hquids excreted by the kidneys ; the residue
turns into blood and flows to the aforesaid doorways
of the hver, to which all its channels lead. Flowing
through these doorways the food at this very point
pours into the so-called vena cava or hollow vein,** and
through this, being now completely worked up and
digested, flows to the heart, and from the heart is
distributed all over the body through a rather large
number of veins that reach to every part of the frame.
138 It would not be difficult to indicate the way in which
the residue of the food is excreted by the alternate
255
CICERO
haud sane clirT.cile dictu est, sed tamen praetereun-
dum est ne quid habeat iniucunditatis oratio. Illa
potius explicetur incredibilis fabrica naturae : nam
quae spiritu in puhiiones anima ducitur, ea calescit
primum ipso ab spiritu, deinde contagione pulmonum,
ex eaque pars redditur respirando, pars concipitur
cordis parte quadam quem ventriculum cordis appel-
lant, cui simihs alter adiunctus est in quem sanguis
a iecore per venam illam cavam influit ; eoque modo
ex his partibus et sanguis per venas in omne corpus
diffunditur et spiritus per arterias ; utraeque autem
crebrae multaeque toto corpore intextae vim quandam
incredibilem artificiosi operis divinique testantur.
139 Quid dicam de ossibus ? quae subiecta corpori mira-
biles commissuras habent et ad stabihtatem aptas et
ad artus finiendos adcommodatas et ad motum et ad
omnem corporis actionem. Huc adde nervos, a quibus
artus continentur, eorumque inphcationem corpore
toto pertinentem, qui sicut venae et arteriae a corde
tracti et profecti^ in corpus omne ducuntur.
140 LVI. " Ad hanc providentiam naturae tam dihgen-
tem tamque soUertem adiungi multa possunt e quibus
intellegatur quantae res hominibus a dis- quamque
eximiae tributae sint. Quae^ primum eos humo
excitatos celsos et erectos constituit,* ut deorum
cognitionem caelum intuentes capere possent. Sunt
^ sic edd. ; tractae et profectae mss.
* a dis secl. Schomann. ' quae Asconius : qui mss.
* constituerunt dett.
<• The Greeks used the same word neuroi for both, and
did not clearly distinguish them.
-25&
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. Iv.— Ivi.
astriction and relaxation of the bovvels ; however this
topie must be passed over lest my discourse should be
somewhat offensive. Rather let me unfold the foUow-
ing instance of the incredible skilfulness of nature's
handiwork. The air drawn into the lungs by breath-
ing is warmed in the first instance by the breath itself
and then by contact with the lungs ; part of it is re-
turned by the act of respiration, and part is received
by a certain part of the heart. called the cardiac
ventricle, adjacent to which is a second similar
vessel into which the blood flows from the hver
through the veiia cava mentioned above ; and in this
manner from these organs both the blood is diffused
through the veins and the breath through the arteries
all over the body. Both of these sets of vessels are
very numerous and are closely interwoven with the
tissues of the entire body ; they testify to an extra-
ordiiiary degree of skilful and divine craftsmanship.
139 Why need I speak about the bones, which are the the stmc-
framework of the body ? their marvellous cartilages i^n'8 body j
are nicely adapted to secure stabiUty, and fitted to
end off the joints and to allow of movement and
bodily activity of every sort. Add thereto the nerves
or sinews^' which hold the joints together and whose
ramifications pervade the entire body ; Hke the veins
and arteries these lead from the heart as their
starting-point and pass to all parts of the body.
140 LVI. " Many further illustrations could be given "i^i?'? «J^ct
of this wise and careful providence of nature, to ^*^"^ ^^^'
illustrate the lavishness and splendour of the gifts
bestowed by the gods on men. First, she has raised
them from the ground to stand tall and upright, so
that tliey might be able to behold the sky and so gain
a knowledge of the gods. For men are sprung from
257
CICERO
enim ex terra homines non ut incolae atque habita-
tores sed quasi spectatores superarum rerum atque
caelestium, quarum spectaculum ad nullum aliud
genus animantium pertinet. Sensus autem inter-
pretes ac nuntii rerum in capite tamquam in arce
mirifice ad usus necessarios et facti et conlocati sunt.
Nara oculi tamquam speculatores altissimum locum
obtinent, ex quo plurima conspicientes fungantur suo
141 munere ; et aures, cura sonura percipere debeant
qui natura in^ sublime fertur, recte in altis corporum
partibus collocatae sunt ; itemque nares et quod
omnis odor ad supera fertur recte sursum sunt et
quod cibi et potionis iudicium raagnum earum est
non sine causa vicinitatera oris secutae sunt. lam
gustatus, qui sentire eorum quibus vesciraur genera
debet,^ habitat in ea parte oris qua esculentis et potu-
lentis iter natura patefecit. Tactus autem toto cor-
pore aequabiliter fusus est, ut omnes ictus oranesque
minimos' et frigoris et caloris adpulsus sentire possi-
mus. Atque ut in aedificiis architecti avertunt ab
oculis naribusque dominorum ea quae profluentia ne-
cessario taetri essent aliquid habitura, sic natura res
simihs procul amandavit a sensibus.
142 LVII. " Quis vero opifex praeter naturam, qua
nihil potest esse calhdius, tantam soUertiam per-
sequi potuisset in sensibus ? quae primura oculos
merabranis tenuissirais vestivit et saepsit, quas pri-
1 in om. deft. ^ debet dett. : deberet A, B.
^ mininios dett. : niinios A, B.
258
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. Ivi.— Ivii.
the earth not as its inhabitants and denizens, but to
be as it were the spectators of things supernal and
heavenly, in the contemplation whereof no other
species of animals participates. Next, the senses, man'sorgans
posted in the citadel of the head as the reporters and ^^^^^^®»
messengers of the outer world, both in structure and
position are marvellously adapted to their necessary
services. The eyes as the watchmen have the highest
station, to give them the widest outlook for the per-
tl formance of their function. The ears also, having the
duty of perceiving sound, the nature of which is to
rise, are rightly placed in the upper part of the body.
The nostrils hkewise are rightly placed high inasmuch
as all smells travel upwards, but also, because they
have much to do ^vith discriminating food and drink,
they have with good reason been brought into the
neighbourhood of the mouth. Taste, which has the
function of distinguishing the flavours of our various
viands, is situated in that part of the face where
nature has made an aperture for the passage of food
and drink. The sense of touch is evenly diffused over
all the body, to enable us to perceive all sorts of con-
tacts and even the minutest impacts of both cold and
heat. And just as architects relegate the drains of
houses to the rear, away from the eyes and nose of
the masters, since otherwise they would inevitably
be somewhat offensive, so nature has banished the
corresponding organs of the body far away from the
neighbourhood of the senses.
\2 LVII. " Again what artificer but nature, who is
unsurpassed in her cunning, could have attained such
skilfulness in the construction of the senses ? First,
she has clothed and walled the eyes with membranes
of the finest texture, which she has made on the one
259
CICERO
mum perlucidas fecit ut per eas cerni posset, firmas
aulem ut continerent^ ; sed lubricos oculos fecit et
mobiles, ut et declinarent si quid noceret et aspec-
tum quo vellent facile converterent ; aciesque ipsa
qua cernimus, quae pupula vocatur, ita parva est ut
ea quae nocere possint facile vitet, palpebraeque,
quae sunt tegmenta oculorum, mollissimae tactu ne
laederent aciem, aptissime factae^ et ad claudendas
pupulas ne quid incideret et ad aperiendas, idque
providit ut identidem fieri posset cum maxima celeri-
143 tate. Munitaeque sunt palpebrae tamquam vallo
pilorum, quibus et apertis oculis si quid incideret
repelleretur et somno coniventibus, cum oculis ad
cernendum non egeremus,!^ ut qui tamquam involuti
quiescerent. Latent praeterea utiliter et excelsis
undique partibus saepiuntur ; primum enim superiora
superciliis obducta sudorem a capite et fronte de-
fluentem repellunt ; genae deinde ab inferiore parte
tutantur subiectae leniterque eminentes ; nasusque
ita locatus est ut quasi murus oculis interiectus esse
144 videatur. Auditus autem semper patet, eius enim
sensu etiam domiientes egemus, a quo cum sonus est
acceptus etiam e somno excitamur. Flexuosum itcr
habet, ne quid intrare possit si simplex et dcrectum
pateret ; provisum etiam ut si qua minima bestiola
^ continerent Lambinus : continerentur.
2 et aptissirnae factae sunt I/chu/or/.
3 locuni corriiptum edd. varie scmant.
" Pvpa^ Kopr], so called from its reflecting a sinall image
of a person who looks into it.
2G0
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. Ivii.
hand transparent so that we may be able to see
through them, and on the other hand firm of sub-
stance, to serve as the outer cover of the eye. The
eyes she has made mobile and smoothly turning, so
as both to avoid any threatened injury and to
direct their gaze easily in any direction they desire.
The actual organ of vision, called the pupil or * httle
doll,'<^ is so small as easily to avoid objects that might
nijure it ; and the hds, which are the covers of the
eyes, are very soft to the touch so as not to hurt the
pupil, and very neatly constructed so as to be able
both to shut the eyes in order that nothing may im-
pinge upon them and to open them ; and nature has
provided that this process can be repeated again and
143 again with extreme rapidity. The eyelids are fur-
nished with a palisade of hairs, whereby to ward off
any impinging object while the eyes are open, and
so that while they are closed in sleep, when we do not
need the eyes for seeing, they may be as it were
tucked up for repose. Moreover the eyes are in an
advantageously retired position, and shielded on all
sides by surrounding prominences ; for first the parts
above them are covered by the eyebrows which pre-
vent sweat from flowing down from the scalp and
forehead ; then the cheeks, which are placed beneath
them and which slightly project, protect them from
below ; and the nose is so placed as to seem to be
1-44 a wall separating the eyes from one another. The
organ of hearing on the other hand is ahvays open,
since we require this sense even when asleep, and
when it receives a sound, we are aroused even from
sleep. The auditory passage is winding, to prevent
anything from being able to enter, as it might if the
passage were clear and straiii;ht ; it has further been
261
CICERO
conaretur inrumpere^ in sordibus aurium tamquam
in visco inhaeresceret. Extra autem eminent quae
appellantur aures, et tegendi causa factae tutandique
sensus et ne adiectae voces laberentur atque errarent
prius quam sensus ab iis pulsus esset. Sed duros et
quasi corneolos habent introitus multisque cum flexi-
bus, quod his naturis relatus ampUficatur sonus ;
quocirca et in fidibus testudine resonatur aut cornu,
et ex tortuosis locis et inclusis <soni>2 referuntur
145 ampliores. Similiter nares, quae semper propter
necessarias utiHtates patent, contractiores habent in-
troitus, ne quid in eas quod noceat possit pervadere ;
umoremque semper habent ad pulverem multaque alia
depellenda non inutilem. Gustatus praeclare saeptus
est, ore enim continetur et ad usum apte et ad in-
columitatis custodiam.
LVIII. " Omnesque' sensus hominum multo ante-
cellunt* sensibus bestiarum. Primum enim oculi in
iis artibus quarum iudicium est oculorum, in pictis
fictis^ caelatisque formis, in corporum etiam motione
atque gestu multa* cernunt subtilius, colorum enim'
et figararum [tum]^ venustatem atque ordinem et ut
ita dicam decentiam oculi iudicant ; atque etiam alia
maiora, nam et virtutes et vitia cognoscunt, iratum
propitium, laetantem dolentem, fortem ignavum, au-
146 dacem timidumque^ [cognoscunt].^° Auriumque item
est admirabile quoddam artificiosumque iudicium, quo
^ irrepere quidam apud Lambinum.
* <soni> Lambinus, post referuntur dett.
^ omnisque A corr.
* antecellunt B corr. : antecellit.
^ An ut dittographia secludendum? cf. § 150 ed.
• mvWo ? ed. ' enim JTeindorf : etiam.
' secl. Manutius : <orna>tum vel <habi>tum Plasberg.
' que om. Ald. " secl. Baiter.
262
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. Ivii.— Kiii.
provided that even the tiniest insect that may at-
tempt to intrude may be caught in the sticky wax of
the ears. On the outside project the organs which
we call ears, which are constructed both to cover and
protect the sense-organ and to prevent the sounds
that reach them from sHding past and being lost be-
fore they strike the sense. The apertures of the ears
are hard and gristly, and much convoluted, because
things with these quahties reflect and ampHfy sound ;
this is why tortoise-shell or horn gives reson-
ance to a lyre, and also why winding passages and
enclosures have an echo which is louder than the
.45 original sound. Similarly the nostrils, which to serve
the purposes required of them have to be always open,
have narrower apertures, to prevent the entrance of
anything that may harm them ; and they are always
moist, which is useful to guard them against dust and
many other things. The sense of taste is admirably
shielded, being enclosed in the mouth in a manner
well suited for the performance of its function and
for its protection against harm.
LVIII. ** And all the senses of man far excel those
of the lower animals. In the first place our eyes have
a finer perception of many things in the arts which
appeal to the sense of sight, painting, modelHng and
sculpture, and also in bodily movements and ges-
tures ; since the eyes judge beauty and arrangement
and so to speak propriety of colour and shape ; and
also other more important matters, for they also
recognize virtues and vices, the angry and the friendly,
the joyful and the sad, the brave man and the coward,
146 the bold and the craven. The ears are likewise
marvellously skilful organs of discrimination ; they
263
CICERO
iudicatur et in vocis et in tibiarum nervorumque
cantibus varietas sonorum intervalla distinctio, et
vocis genera permulta, canorum fuscum, leve asperum,
grave acutum. flexibile durum, quae hominum solum
auribus iudicantur. Nariumque item et gustandi et
<quadam ex>^ parte tangendi magna iudicia sunt.
Ad quos sensus capiendos et perfruendos plures
etiam quam vellem artes repertae sunt. Perspicuum
est enim quo conpositiones unguentorum, quo cibo-
rum conditiones, quo corporum lenocinia processerint.
147 LIX. " lam vero animum ipsum mentemque homi-
nis rationem consilium prudentiam qui non di\ina
cura perfecta esse perspicit, is his ipsis rebus mihi
videtur carere. De quo dum disputarem tuam milii
dari vellem, Cotta, eloquentiam. Quo enim tu illa
modo diceres quanta primum intellegentia, deinde
consequentium rerum cum primis coniunctio et con-
prehensio esset in nobis ; ex quo videlicet iudicamus'
quid ex quibusque rebus efficiatur idque ratione con-
cludimus, singulasque res definimus circumscripte-
que complectimur ; ex quo scientia intellegitur
quam vim habcat quahs^quo^ sit, qua ne in deo
quidem est res ulla praestantior. Quanta vero illa
sunt, quae vos Academici infirmatis et tolhtis, quod
et sensibus et animo ea quae extra sunt percipimus
148 atque conprendimus ; ex quibus conlatis inter se et
^ ci. Plasherg.
2 (videlicet iudicamus Phisherg : iudicamus videHcet
VahJen): videhcet A, videmus B.
^ Moser.
" It is quite possible that the three words varietas^ inter-
valla, distinctio are merely a periphrasis for the single term
264
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. Iviii.— lix.
jiidgc differences of tone, of pitch and of key ** in tlie
music of the voice and of wind and stringed instru-
ments, and many difterent quaHties of voice, sonorous
and dull, smooth and rough, bass and treble, flexible
and hard, distinctions discriminated by the human
ear alone. Likewise the nostrils, the taste and in
some measure the touch have highly sensitive facul-
ties of discrimination. And the arts invented to
appeal to and indulge these senses are even more
numerous than I could wish. The developments of
perfumery and cookery and of the meretricious
adornment of the person are obvious examples.
147 LIX. " Coming now to the actual mind and intel- man'sdivina
lect of man, his reason, wisdom and foresight, onefeason;
who cannot see that these owe their perfection to
divine providence must in my view himself be devoid
of these very faculties. While discussing this topic
I could wish, Cotta, that I had the gift of your elo-
quence. How could not you describe first our powers
of understanding, and then our faculty of conjoining ^
prcmisses and consequences in a single act of appre-
hension, the faculty I mean that enables us to judge —
what conclusion follows from any given propositions
and to put the inference in syllogistic form, and also
to dehmit particular terms in a succinct definition ;
whence we arrive at an understanding of the potency
and the nature of knowledge, which is the most ex-
cellent part even of the divine nature. Again, how
remarkable are the faculties which you Academics in-
vahdate and abohsh, our sensory and intellectual per-
148 ception and comprehension of external objects ; it is
by collating and comparing our percepts that we also
8ia<xT,]/j.aTa, ' dilTerences of pitch,' in contrast with differences
of quality which follow.
265
CICERO
conparatis artes quoque effieimus partim ad usum
vitae partim ad oblectationem necessarias. lam vero
domina rerum, ut vos soletis dicere, eloquendi vis
quam est praeclara quamque divina : quae primum
efficit ut et ea quae ignoramus discere et ea quae
scimus alios docere possimus ; deinde hac cohorta-
mur hac persuademus, hac consolamur afflictos hac
deducimus perterritos a timore, hac gestientes con-
primimus hac cupiditates iracundiasque restingui-
mus, haec nos iuris legum urbium societate devinxit,
149 haec a vita inmani et fera segrega\dt. Ad usum
autem orationis incredibile est, si^ diUgenter atten-
deris, quanta opera machinata natura sit. Primum
enim a pulmonibus arteria usque ad os intimum
pertinet, per quam vox principium a mente ducens
percipitur et funditur. Deinde in ore sita Ungua est
finita^ dentibus ; ea vocem inmoderate profusam
fingit et terminat atque sonos vocis distinctos et
pressos efficit cum et^ dentes et* ahas partes peUit
oris. Itaque plectri similem hnguam nostri solent
dicere, chordarum dentes, nares cornibus iis qui ad
nervos resonant in cantibus.
150 LX. " Quam vero aptas quamque multarum artium
ministras manus natura homini dedit. Digitorum
enim contractio faciUs faciUsque porrectio propter
moUes commissuras et artus nullo in motu laborat.
Itaque ad pingendum, <ad>^ fingendum, ad scalpen-
dum, ad nervorum eUciendos sonos ac tibiarum
apta manus est admotione digitorum. Atque haec
* si Madvig : nisi. ' munita Baenemann,
" et ad ^ corr. * et ad A.
5 acld. Ald. : [fingendum] ? cf. § 145 ed.
" The vibration of the hoUow horns no doubt intensified
the sound of the strings.
266
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. lix.— Ix. y
/
create the arts that serve either practical necessities man'8 gift of
or the purpose of amiisement. Then take the gift of ^p/qJ^*"*!
speech, the queen of arts as you are fond of calhng
it — what a glorious, what a divine faculty it is ! In
the first place it enables us both to learn things we do
not know and to teach things we do know to others ;
secondly it is our instrument for exhortation and per-
suasion, for consoUng the afflicted and assuaging the
fears of the terrified, for curbing passion and quench-
ing appetite and anger ; it is this that has united us
in the bonds of justice, law and civil order, this that
149 has separated us from savagery and barbarism. Now
careful consideration will show that the mechanism
of speech displays a skill on nature's part that sur-
passes beHef. In the first place there is an artery
passing from the lungs to the back of the mouth,
which is the channel by which the voice, originating
from the mind, is caught and uttered. Next, the
tongue is placed in the mouth and confined by the
teeth ; it modulates and defines the inarticulate flow
of the voice and renders its sounds distinct and clear
by striking the teeth and other parts of the mouth.
Accordingly my school is fond of comparing the tongue
to the quill of a lyre, the teeth to the strings, and the
nostrils to the horns which echo " the notes of the
strings when the instrument is played.
150 LX. " Then what clever servants for a great the mechan-
variety of arts are the hands which nature has be- {fancf.^a^Hd"^
stowed on man ! The flexibiUty of the joints enables lus capacity
the fingers to close and open with equal ease, and to and craftet
perform every motion wdthout difficulty. Thus by
the manipulation of the fingers the hand is enabled
to paint, to model, to carve, and to draw forth the
notes of the lyre and of the flute. And beside these
267
CICERO
oblectationis, illa necessitatis, cultus dico agrorura
extructionesque tectorum, tegumenta corporuni vel
texta vel suta omnemque fabricam aeris et ferri ; ex
quo intellegitur ad inventa animo, percepta sensibus
adhibitis opificum manibus omnia nos consecutos,
ut tecti ut vestiti ut salvi esse possemus, m-bes
151 muros domicilia delubra haberemus. lam vero
operibus hominum, id est manibus, cibi etiam
varietas invenitur et copia. Nam et agri multa
efferunt manu quaesita quae vel statim con-
sumantur vel mandentur condita vetustati, et prae-
terea vescimur bestiis et terrenis et aquatihbus
et volantibus partim capiendo partim alendo. Effici-
mus etiam domitu nostro quadripedum vectiones,
quorum celeritas atque vis nobis ipsis adfert vim et
celeritatem ; nos onera quibusdam bestiis nos iuga
inponimus, nos elephantorum acutissumis sensibus nos
sagacitate canum ad utiUtatem nostram abutimur,
nos e terrae cavernis ferrum ehgimus rem ad colen-
dos agros necessariam, nos aeris argenti auri venas
penitus abditas invenimus et ad usum aptas et ad or-
natum decoras. Arborum autem consectione omnique
materia et culta et silvestri partim ad calficiendum
corpus igni adhibito et ad mitigandum cibum utimur,
partim ad aedificandum ut tectis saepti frigora ca-
152 loresque pellamus ; magnos vero usus adfert ad na-
vigia facienda, quorum cursibus subpeditantur omnes
undique ad vitam copiae ; quasque res violentissimas
268
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. Ix.
art*^ of recreation there are those of utility, I mean
agriculture and building, the weaving and stitching
of garments, and the various modes of working bronze
and iron ; hence we reahze that it was by applying
the hand of the artificer to the discoveries of thought
andobservationsof thesenses that all ourconveniences
were attained, and we were enabled to have shelter,
clothing and protection, and possessed cities, fortifi-
151 cations, houses and temples. Moreover men's in-
dustry, that is to say the work of their hands, procures
us also our food in variety and abundance. It is the
hand that gathers the divers products of the fields,
whether to be consumed immediately or to be stored
in repositories for the days to come ; and our diet also
includes flesh, fish and fowl, obtained partly by the
chase and partly by breeding. We also tame the four-
footed animals to carry us on their backs, their swift-
ness and strength bestowing strength and swiftness
upon ourselves. We cause certain beasts to bear our
burdens or to carry a yoke, we divert to our service
the marvellously acute senses of elephants and the
keen scent of hounds ; we collect from the caves of
the earth the iron which we need for tilHng the land,
we discover the deeply hidden veins of copper, silver
and gokl which serve us both for use and for adorn-
ment ; we cut up a multitude of trees both wild and
cultivated for timber which we employ partly by
setting fire to it to warm our bodies and cook our
food, partly for building so as to shelter ourselves
152 with houses and banish heat and cold. Timber more-
over is of great value for constructing ships, whose
voyages supply an abundance of sustenance of all
sorts from all parts of the earth ; and we alone have
the power of controlhng the most violent of nature's
269
CICERO
natura genuit earum moderationem nos soli habemus,
maris atque ventorum, propter nauticarum rerum
scientiam, plurimisque maritimis rebus fruimur atque
utimur. Terrenorum item commodorum omnis est in
homine dominatus : nos campis nos montibus frui-
mur, nostri sunt amnes nostri lacus, nos fruges seri-
mus nos arbores, nos aquarum inductionibus terris
fecunditatem damus, nos flumina arcemus derigimus
avertimus, nostris denique manibus in rerum natura
quasi alteram naturam efficere conamur.
153 LXI. " Quid vero ? hominum ratio non in caelum
usque penetravit ? Soli enim ex animantibus nos
astrorum ortus obitus cursusque cognovimus, ab
hominum genere finitus est dies mensis annus,
defectiones solis et lunae cognitae praedictaeque in
omne posterum tempus, quae quantae quando
futurae sint. Quae contuens animus accedit ad
cognitionem deorum, e qua oritur pietas, cui con-
iuncta iustitia est reUquaeque virtutes, e quibus
vita beata existit par et similis deorum, nulla alia
re nisi inmortalitate, quae nihil ad bene vivendum
pertinet, cedens caelestibus. Quibus rebus expositis
satis docuisse videor hominis natura quanto omnis
anteiret animantes ; ex quo debet intellegi nec
figuram situmque membrorum nec ingenii mentis-
que vim talem effici potuisse fortuna.
154 *' Restat ut doceam atque aUquando perorem, omnia
quae sint in hoc mundo quibus utantur homines
hominum causa facta esse et parata.
270
DE NATURA DEORUM, 11. Ix.— Ixi.
ofFspring, the sea and the winds, thanks to the science
of navigation, and we use and enjoy many products
of the sea. Likewise the entire command of the
commodities produced on land is vested in mankind.
We enjoy the fruits of the plains and of the mountains,
the rivers and the lakes are ours, we sow corn, we
plant trees, we fertihze the soil by irrigation, we con-
fine the rivers and straighten or divert their courses.
In fine, by means of our hands we essay to create as
it were a second world ^vithin the world of nature.
153 LXI. " Then moreover has not man's reason pene- '^^^'^''..
trated even to the sky ? We alone of hving creatures ^serve the
know the risings and settings and the courses of the {o^JoJ^ifp''
stars, the human race has set hmits to the day, the thegods.
month and the year, and has learnt the echpses of
the sun and moon and foretold for all future time
their occurrence, their extent and their dates. And
contemplating the heavenly bodies the mind arrives
at a knowledge of the gods, from which arises piety,
with its comrades justice and the rest of the virtues,
the sources of a hfe of happiness that vies with and
resembles the divine existence and leaves us inferior
to the celestial beings in nothing else save immor-
taUty, which is immaterial for happiness. I think
that my exposition of these matters has been suffi-
cient to prove how widely man's nature surpasses all
other hving creatures ; and this should make it clear
that neithersuch a conformation and arrangement of
the members nor such power of mind and intellect
can possibly have been created by chance.
154 " It remains for me to show, in coming finally to a iv. Pro\i-
conclusion, that all the things in this world which men forman
employ have been created and provided for the sake C§i54toend).
of men.
271
CICERO
LXII. " Principio ipse mundus deorum homimim-
que causa factus est, quaeque in eo sunt ea parata ad
fructum hominum et inventa sunt. Est enim mundus
quasi communis deorum atque hominum domus, aut
urbs utrorumque ; soli enim ratione utentes iure ac
lege vivunt. Ut igitur Athenas et Lacedaemonem
Atheniensium Lacedaemoniorumque causa putan-
dum est conditas esse, omniaque quae sint in his
urbibus eorum populorum recte esse dicuntur, sic
quaecumque sunt in omni mundo deorum atque
165 hominum putanda sunt. lam vero circumitus solis
et lunae rehquorumque siderum, quamquam etiam
ad mundi cohaerentiam pertinent, tamen et spectacu-
lum hominibus praebent ; nuUa est enim insatiabiUor
species, nulla pulchrior et ad rationem sollertiamque
praestantior ; eorum enim cursus dimetati maturl»-
tates temporum et varietates mutationesque cogno»
vimus ; quae si hominibus sohs riota sunt, hominum
156 facta esse causa iudicandum est. Terra vero feta
frugibus et vario leguminum genere, quae cum
maxuma largitate fundit, ea ferarumne an hominum
causa gignere videtur ? Quid de vitibus ohvetisque
dicam, quarum uberrumi laetissumique fructus
nihil omnino ad bestias pertinent ? Neque enim
serendi neque colendi nec tempestive demetendi
percipiendique fructus neque condendi ac reponendi
272
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. Ixii.
LXII. " In the first place the world itself was The worid
created for the sake of gods and men, and the things heaveifiy
that it contains were provided and contrived for the bodies exist
enjoyment of men. For the world is as it were the of gods
common dwelhng-place of gods and men, or the ^"^ ™®°*
city that belongs to both ; for they alone have the
use of reason and live by justice and by law. As
therefore Athens and Sparta must be deemed to have
been founded for the sake of the Athenians and the
Spartans, and all the things contained in those cities
are rightly said to belong to those peoples, so what-
ever things are contained in all the world must be
155 deemed to belong to the gods and to men. Again the
revolutions of the sun and moon and other heavenly
bodies, although also contributing to the mainten-
ance of the structure of the world, nevertheless also
afford a spectacle for man to behold ; for there is no
sight of which it is more impossible to grow weary,
none more beautiful nor displaying a more surpassing
wisdom and skill ; for by measuring the courses of
the stars we know when the seasons will come
round, and when their variations and changes will
occur ; and if these things are known to men alone,
they must be judged to have been created for the
156 sake of men. Then the earth, teeming with grain xhe
and vetretables of various kinds, which she pours ^'^s^table
/•1-1-111 1 1 kujgdom 13
lorth in lavish abundance — does she appear to give provided lor
birth to this produce for the sake of the wild beasts of maS
or for the sake of men ? What shall I say of the vines
and oHves, whose bounteous and dehghtful fruits do
not concern the lower animals at a]l ? In fact the
beasts of the field are entirely ignorant of the arts of
sowing and cultivating, and of reaping and gathering
the fruits of the earth in due season and storing them
273
CICERO
ulla pecudum scientia est, earumque omnium rerum
157 hominum est et usus et cura. LXIII. Ut fides
igitur et tibias eorum causa factas dicendum est
qui illis uti possent, sic ea quae dixi iis solis con-
fitendum est esse parata qui utuntur, nec si quae
bestiae furantur aliquid ex iis aut rapiunt, illarum
quoque causa ea nata esse dicemus. Neque enim
homines murum aut formicarum causa frumentum
condunt sed coniugum et liberorum et familiarum
suarum ; itaque bestiae furtim ut dixi fruuntur, domini
158 palam et libere. Hominum igitur causa eas rerum
copias comparatas fatendum est, nisi forte tanta
ubertas et varietas pomorum eorumque iucundus
non gustatus solum sed odoratus etiam et aspectus
dubitationem adfert quiu hominibus solis ea natura
donaverit. Tantumque abest ut haec bestiarura
etiam causa parata sint, ut ipsas bestias hominum
gratia generatas esse videamus. Quid enim oves
ahud adferunt nisi ut earum vilhs confectis atque
contextis homines vestiantur ? quae quidem neque
ah neque sustentari neque ullum fructum edere ex
se sine cultu hominum et curatione potuissent.
Canum vero tam fida custodia tamque amans domi-
norum adulatio tantumque odium in externos, et
tam incredibihs ad investigandum sagacitas narium
tanta alacritas in venando quid significat ^ ahud nisi
se ad hominum commoditates esse generatos ?
159 Quid de bubus loquar ? quorum ipsa terga declarant
^ significant ? ed.
274
DE NATURA DEORUM, 11. Ixii.— Ixiii.
in garners ; all these products are both enjoyed and
167 tended by men. LXIII. Just as therefore we are
bound to say that lyres and flutes were made for the
sake of those who can use them, so it must be agreed
that the things of which I have spoken have been
provided for those only who make use of them, and
even if some portion of them is filched or plundered
by some of the lower animals, we shall not admit that
they were created for the sake of these animals also.
Men do not store up corn for the sake of mice and
ants but for their wives and children and households ;
80 the animals share these fruits of the earth only
by stealth as I have said, whereas their masters enjoy
158 them openly and freely. It must therefore be ad-
mitted that all this abundance was provided for the
sake of men, unless perchance the bounteous plenty
and variety of our orchard fruit and the dehghtfulness
not only of its flavour but also of its scent and appear-
ance lead us to doubt whether nature intended this
gift for man alone ! So far is it from being true that 5|"? t^
the fruits of the earth were provided for the sake of are created
animals as well as men, that the animals themselves, forhisuse,
as we may see, were created for the benefit of men.
What other use have sheep save that their fleeces are
dressed and woven into clothing for men ? and in fact
they could not have been reared nor sustained nor have
produced anything of value ^^ithout man's care and
tendance. Then think of the dog, with its trusty
watchfulness, its fawning affection for its master and
hatred of strangers, its incredible keenness of scent
in following a trail and its eagerness in hunting — what
do these quahties imply except that they were created
159 to serve the conveniences of men ? Why should I
speak of oxen ? the very shape of their backs makes
275
CICERO
non esse se ad onus accipiendum figurata, cervices
autem natae ad iugum, tum vires umerorum et
latitudines ad aratra [ex]trahenda.^ Quibus cum
terrae subigerentur fissione glebarum, ab illo aureo
genere, ut poetae loquuntur, vis nulla umquam ad-
ferebatur ;
ferrea tum vero proles exorta repente est,
ausaque funestum prima est fabricarier ensem
et gustare manu vinctum domitumque iuvencum.
Tanta putabatur utilitas percipi e bubus ut eorum
visceribus vesci scelus haberetur.
LXIV. " Longum est mulorum persequi utilitates
et asinorum, quae certe ad hominum usum paratae
160 sunt. Sus vero quid habet praeter escam ? cui
quidem ne putesceret animam ipsam pro sale
datam dicit esse Chrysippus ; qua pecude, quod
erat ad vescendum hominibus apta, nihil genuit
natura fecundius. Quid multitudinem suavitatem-
que piscium dicam ? quid avium, ex quibus tanta per-
cipitur voluptas ut interdum Pronoea nostra Epicurea
fuisse videatur ? atque eae ne caperentur quidem
nisi hominum ratione atque sollertia ; — quamquam
avis quasdam, et ahtes et oscines, ut nostri augures
appellant, rerum augurandarum causa esse natas
161 putamus. lam vero immanes et feras beluas nan-
ciscimur venando, ut et vescamur iis et exerceamur
^ trahenda Ernesti.
" Cicero's translation of Aratus's Phaenomenay 129 fF.
* Clement of Alexandria, Strom. vii. 34 KXedvdrjs (pr^alv
276
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. Ixiii.— Ixiv.
it clear that they were not destined to carry burdens,
wliereas their necks were born for the yoke and their
broad powerful shoulders for drawing the plough.
And as it was by their means that the earth was
brought under tillas^e by breaking up its clods, no
violence was ever used towards them, so the poets
say, by the men of that Golden Age ;
But then the iron race sprang into being,
And first did dare to forge the deadly sword,
And taste the ox its hand had tamed to bondage.'*
So valuable was deemed the service that man re-
ceived from oxen that to eat their flesh was held a
crime.
LXIV. " It would be a long story to tell of the
services rendered by mules and asses, which were un-
160 doubtedly created for the use of men. As for the pig,
it can only furnish food ; indeed Chrysippus ^ actually
says that its soul was given it to serve as salt and
keep it from putrefaction ; and because this animal
was fitted for the food of man, nature made it the
most proHfic of all her offspring. Why should I speakof
theteeming swarms of dehcious fish ? or of birds,which
afford us so much pleasure that our Stoic Providence
appears to have been at times a disciple of Epicurus ?
and they could not even be caught save by man's
inteHigence and cunning ; — although some birds,
birds of flight and birds of utterance as our augurs
call them, we beheve to have been created for the
161 purpose of giving omens. The great beasts of the
forest again we take by hunting, both for food and in
order to exercise ourselves in the mimic warfare of the
avd' a\(hv avTovs {tovs Pj) ^Xf'" '''^^ i^^XV"* ''''* f^V o^awg tol
xpea ; but Cicero is probably right in giving it to Chrysippus.
277
CICERO
in venando ad similitudinem bellicae disciplinae,
et utamur domitis et condocefactis, ut elephantis,
multaque ex earum corporibus remedia morbis et
vulneribus eligamus, sicut ex quibusdam stirpibus
et herbis quarum utilitates longinqui temporis usu
et pericUtatione percepimus. Totam Hcet animis
tamquam oculis lustrare terram mariaque omnia :
cernes iam spatia frugifera atque inmensa camporum
vestitusque densissimos montium, pecudum pastus,
162 tum incredibili cursus maritimos celeritate. Nec
vero supra terram sed etiam in intumis eius tenebris
plurimarum rerum latet utiHtas quae ad usum
hominum orta ab hominibus solis invenitur.
LXV. " Illud vero, quod uterque vestrum arripiet
fortasse ad reprendendum, Cotta quia Carneades
lubenter in Stoicos invehebatur, Velleius quia nihil
tam inridet Epicurus quam praedictionem rerum
futurarum, mihi videtur vel maxume confirmare
deorum providentia consuli rebus humanis. Est
enim profecto divinatio, quae multis locis rebus
temporibus apparet cum [in]^ privatis tum maxume
163 publicis. Multa cernunt haruspices, multa augures
provident, multa oraclis declarantur multa vatici-
nationibus multa somniis multa portentis ; quibus
cognitis multae saepe res ex^ hominum sententic
atque utihtate partae, multa etiam pericula depulsa
sunt. Haec igitur sive vis sive ars sive natura ad
scientiam rerum futurarum homini profecto est nec
alii cuiquam a dis inmortalibus data.
* secl. Miiller, * ex dett. : om. A^ B.
278
DE NATURA DEORUM, 11. Ixiv.— Ixv.
chase, and also, as in the case of elephants, to train
and discipline them for our employment, and to
procure from their bodies a variety of medicines for
diseases and wounds, as also we do from certain roots and so fs th«
and herbs whose values we have learnt by long-con- worid!"'°
tinued use and trial. Let the mind's eye survey the
whole earth and all the seas, and you ^vill behold now
fruitful plains of measureless extent and mountains
thickly clad with forests and pastures filled with
flocks, now vessels saihng with marvellous swiftness
L62 across the sea. Nor only on the surface of the earth,
but also in its darkest recesses there lurks an abun-
dance of commodities which were created for men's
use and which men alone discover.
LXV. " The next subject is one which each of you Dinnation
perhaps will seize upon for censure, Cotta because soSy^by ^
Carneades used to enjoy tilting at the Stoics, Velleius man.
because nothing provokes the ridicule of Epicurus so
much as the art of prophecy ; but in my view it
affords the very strongest proof that man's welfare \'^
is studied by divine providence. I refer of course to
Divination, which we see practised in many regions
and upon various matters and occasions both private
163 and more especially pubhc. Many observations are
made by those who inspect the victims at sacrifices,
many events are foreseen by augurs or revealed in
oracles and prophecies, dreams and portents, a know-
ledge of which has often led to the acquisition of
many things gratifying men's wishes and require-
ments, and also to the avoidance of many dangers.
This power or art or instinct therefore has clearly '
been bestowed by the immortal gods on man, and —
on no other creature, for the ascertainment of future j
events.
279
CICERO
*' Quae si singula vos forte non movent, universa
certe tamen inter se conexa atque coniuncta movere
debebunt.^
164 " Nec vero universo generi hominum solum sed
etiam singulis a dis inmortalibus consuli et provideri
solet. Licet enim contrahere universitatem generis
humani, eamque gradatim ad pauciores, postremo
deducere ad singulos. LXVI. Nam si omnibus
hominibus qui ubique sunt quacumque in ora ac
parte terrarum ab huiusce terrae quam nos incoli-
mus continuatione distantium deos consulere cen-
semus ob eas causas quas ante diximus, his quoque
hominibus consulunt qui has nobiscum terras ab
165 oriente ad occidentem colunt. Sin autem his
consulunt^ qui quasi magnam quandam insulam
incolunt quam nos orbem terrae vocamus, etiam
ilhs consulunt qui partes eius insulae tenent, Europam
Asiam Africam. Ergo et earum partes diligunt,
ut Romam Athenas Spartam Rhodum, et earum
urbium separatim ab universis singulos dih*gunt,
ut Pyrrhi bello Curium Fabricium Coruncanium,
primo Punico Calatinum Duellium Metellum Luta-
tium, secundo Maxumum Marcellum Africanum,
post hos Paulum Gracchum Catonem, patrumve me-
moria Scipionem LaeHum ; multosque praeterea et
nostra civitas et Graecia tuht singulares viros, quo-
rum neminem nisi iuvante deo talem fuisse creden-
166 dum est. Quae ratio poetas maxumeque Homerum
inpuht ut principibus heroum, Uhxi Diomedi Aga-
^ debebant nonnnlli.
^ his consulunt Ald. : consulunt iis dett.
280
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. Ixv.— Ixvi.
" And if perchance these arguments separately
fail to convince you, nevertheless in combination
their collective weight will be bound to do so.
164 " Nor is the care and providence of the immortal Divinecara
gods bestowed only upon the human race in its fndividuai'
entirety, but it is also wont to be extended to indi- men.
viduals. We may narrow down the entirety of the
human race and bring it gradually down to smaller
and smaller groups, and finally to single individuals.
LXVI. For if we beheve, for the reasons that we
have spoken of before, that the gods care for all
human beings everywhere in every coast and region
of the lands remote from this continent in which we
dwell, then they care also for the men who inhabit
with us these lands between the sunrise and the
165 sunset. But if they care for these who inhabit that
sort of vast island which we call the round earth, they
also care for those who occupy the divisions of that
island, Europe, Asia and Africa. Therefore they
also cherish the divisions of those divisions, for in-
stance Rome, Athens, Sparta and Rhodes ; and they
cherish the individual citizens of those cities regarded
separately from the whole body coUectively, for
example, Curius, Fabricius and Coruncanius in the
war with Pyrrhus, Calatinus, Duelhus, Metellus and
Lutatius in the First Punic War, and Maximus,
Marcellus and Africanus in the Second, and at a later
date Paulus, Gracchus and Cato, or in our fathers'
time Scipio and Laehus ; and many remarkable men
besides both our own country and Greece have given
birth to, none of whom could conceivably have
166 been what he was save by god's aid. It was this
reason which drove the poets, and especially Homer,
to attach to their chief heroes, Ulysses, Diomede,
281
CICERO
memnoni Achilli, certos deos discriminum et pericu-
lorum comites adiungeret. Praeterea ipsorum deo-
rum saepe praesentiae, quales supra commemoravi,
declarant ab iis et civitatibus et singulis hominibus
consuli. Quod quidem intellegitur etiam significa-
tionibus rerum futurarum quae tum dormientibus
tum vigilantibus portenduntur ; multa praeterea
ostentis multa extis admonemur, multisque rebus
ahis quas diuturnus usus ita notavit ut artem
167 divinationis efficeret. Nemo igitur vir magnus sine
ahquo adflatu divino umquam fuit. Nec vero
<id>^ ita refellendum est ut, si segetibus aut
vinetis cuiuspiam tempestas nocuerit, aut si quid
e vitae commodis casus abstulerit, eum cui quid
horum acciderit aut invisum deo aut neglectum
a deo iudicemus. Magna di curant, parva neglegunt.
Magnis autem viris prosperae semper omnes res,
siquidem satis a nostris et a principe philosophiae
Socrate dictum est de ubertatibus virtutis et copiis.
168 LXVII. " Haec mihi fere in mentem veniebant
quae dicenda putarem de natura deorum. Tu autem,
Cotta, si me audias, eandem causam agas teque et
principem civem et pontificem esse cogites et, quo-
niam in utramque partem vobis hcet disputare, hanc
^ add. Heindorf.
" In De Divinatione Cicero's brother Quintus sets out in
Book I. these two kinds of divination, natural, by means of
dreams and ecstasies, and artificial, through the observation
of entrails of victims, birds' flight, hghtning and other
portents; in Book II. Cicero replies, denying divination
altogether.
282
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. Ixvi.— Ixvii.
Agamemnon or Achilles, certain gods as the com-
panions of their perils and adventures ; moreover the
gods have often appeared to men in person, as in the
cases which I have mentioned above, so testifying
that they care both for communities and for indi-
viduals.** And the same is proved by the portents of
future occurrences that are vouchsafed to men some-
times when they are asleep and sometimes when they
are awake. Moreover we receive a number of warn-
ings by means of signs and of the entrails of victims,
and by many other things that long-continued usage
has noted in such a manner as to create the art of
167 divination. Therefore no great man ever existed who
did not enjoy some portion of divine inspiration. Nor
yet is this argument to be di^^proved by pointing to
cases where a man's cornfields or vineyards have been
damaged by a storm, or an accident has robbed him
of some commodity of value, and inferring that the
victim of one of these misfortunes is the object of
god's hatred or neglect. The gods attend to great
matters ; they neglect small ones. Now great men
always prosper in all their affairs, assuming that
the teachers of our school and Socrates, the prince
of philosophy, have satisfactorily discoursed upon
the bounteous abundance of wealth that virtue
bestows.
16S LXVH. " These are more or less the things that Conclusion.
occurred to me which I thought proper to be said
upon the subject of the nature of the gods. And for
your part, Cotta, would you but hsten to me, you
would plead the same cause, and reflect that you are
a leading citizen and a pontiff, and you would take
advantage of the hberty enjoyed by your school of
arguing both pro and conira to choose to espouse my
283
CICERO
potius sumas, eamque facultatem disserendi quam
tibi a rhetoricis exercitationibus acceptam amplifi-
cavit Academia potius huc conferas. Mala enim et
impia consuetudo est contra deos disputandi, sive
ex animo id fit sive simulate."
284
DE NATURA DEORUM, II. Ixvii.
side, and preferably to devote to this purpose those
powers of eloquence which your rhetorical exercises
have bestowed upon you and which the Academy has
fostered. For the habit of arguing in support of
atheism, whether it be done from conviction or in
pretence, is a wicked and an impious practice."
285
LIBER TERTIUS
1 I. Quae cum Balbus dixisset, tum adridens Cotta
" Sero " inquit " mihi Balbe praecipis quid defendam ;
ego enim te disputante quid contra dicerem mecum
ipse meditabar, neque tam refellendi tui causa quam
ea quae minus intellegebam requirendi. Cum autem
suo cuique iudicio sit utendum, difficile factu est me
id sentire quod tu velis."
2 Hic Velleius " Nescis " inquit " quanta cum
exspectatione Cotta sim te auditurus. lucundus
enim Balbo nostro sermo tuus contra Epicurum
fuit ; praebebo igitur ego me tibi vicissim attentum
contra Stoicos auditorem. Spero enim te ut soles
bene paratum venire."
3 Tum Cotta " Sic mehercule " inquit " Vellei ;
neque enim mihi par ratio cum Lucilio est ac tecum
fuit."
" Qni tandem ? " inquit ille.
** Quia mihi videtur Epicurus vester de dis inmorta-
libus non magnopere pugnare : tantum modo negare
deos esse non audet ne quid invidiae subeat aut
criminis. Cum vero deos nihil agere nihil curare
286
BOOK III
1 I. Cotta smiled when Balbus said this. " It is too Academic
late, Balbus," he rejoined, " for you to tell me what ^'tSc^*'"' °'
view I am to support, for while you were discoursing theoiogy.
I was pondering what arguments I could bring against ^"0^ : Cotta
you, though not so much for the purpose of refuting admits the
you as of asking for an explanation of the points Baibus'3
which I could not quite understand. However, each ^y^°|*con'
man must use his own judgement, and it is a difficult tent with
task for me to take the view which you would hke me reilgkm of
to take." Rome.
2 Hereupon Velleius broke in : " You cannot think,
Cotta," said he, " how eager I am to hear you. Our
good friend Balbus enjoyed your discom-se against
Epicurus ; so I in my turn will give you an attentive
hearing against the Stoics. For I hope that you come
well equipped, as you usually do."
3 " Yes, to be sure, Velleius," rephed Cotta ; ** for I
have a very different business before me with Lucihus
from what I had with you."
" How so, pray ? " said Velleius.
" Because I think that your master Epicurus does
not put up a very strong fight on the question of the
immortal gods ; he only does not venture to deny
their existence so that he may not encounter any ill-
feehng or reproach. But when he asserts that the
gods do nothing and care for nothing, and that though
287
CICERO
confirmat, membrisque humanis esse praeditos sed
eorum membrorum usum nullum habere, ludere
videtur, satisque putare si dixerit esse quandam
i beatam naturam et aeternam. A Balbo autem
animadvertisti credo quam multa dicta sint, quam-
que etiamsi minus vera tamen apta inter se et co-
haerentia. Itaque cogito ut dixi non tam refellere eius
orationem quam ea quae minus intellexi requirere.
Quare Balbe tibi permitto, responderene mihi maUs
de singuhs rebus quaerenti ex te ea quae parum
accepi, an universam audire orationem meam."
Tum Balbus " Ego vero si quid explanari tibi
voles respondere malo, sin me interrogare non
tam intellegendi causa quam refellendi, utrurn
voles faciam : vel ad singula quae requires statim
respondebo vel cum peroraris ad omnia."
5 Tum Cotta " Optime " inquit ; " quam ob rem sic
agamus ut nos ipsa ducet oratio. II. Sed ante quam
de re, pauca de me. Nom enim mediocriter moveor
auctoritate tua, Balbe, orationeque ea quae me in
perorando cohortabatur ut meminissem me et
Cottam esse et pontificem ; quod eo credo valebat,
ut opiniones quas a maioribus accepimus de dis
inmortahbus, sacra caerimonias rehgionesque defen-
derem. Ego vero eas defendam semper semperque
288
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. i.— ii.
they possess limbs like those of men they make no iise
of those Hnibs, he seems not to be speaking seriously,
and to think it enough if he affirms the cxistence of
blessed and everlasting beings of some sort. But as
for Balbus, I am sure you must have noticed how
much he had to say, and how though lacking in truth
it was yet consistent and systematic. Hence what
I have in mind, as I said, is not so much to refute
his discourse as to ask for an explanation of the
things that I could not quite understand. Accord-
ingly, I offer you the choice, Balbus, whether you
would prefer that I should question you and you
reply upon each of the points singly as to which I
did not quite agree, or that you should hear out my
entire discourse."
" Oh," answered Balbus, " I had rather reply about
any point which you desire to have explained to you ;
or if you want to question me with a view not so much
to understanding as to refuting me, I will do which-
ever you wish, and ^^-ill either reply to each of your
inquiries at once, or answer them all when you have
completed your speech."
6 " Very well," rejoined Cotta, " let us then proceed
as the argument itself may lead us. II. But before
we come to the subject, let me say a few words about
myself. I am considerably influenced by your
authority, Balbus, and by the plea that you put
forward at the conclusion of your discourse, when
you exhorted me to remember that I am both a Cotta
and a pontiif. This no doubt meant that I ought to
uphold the behefs about the immortal gods which
have come down to us from our ancestors, and the
rites and ceremonies and duties of rehgion. For my
part I always shall uphold them and always have
289
CICERO
defendi, nec me ex ea opinione quam a maioribus
accepi de cultu deorum inmortalium ullius umquam
oratio aut docti aut indocti movebit. Sed cum de
religione agitur, Ti. Coruncanium P. Scipionem
P. Scaevolam pontifices maximos, non Zenonem
aut Cleanthen aut Chrysippum sequor, habeoque
C. Laehum augurem eundemque sapientem, quem
potius audiam dicentem de rehgione in illa oratione
nobili quam quemquam principem Stoicorum. Cum-
que omnis populi Romani religio in sacra et in
auspicia divisa sit, tertium adiunctum sit si quid
praedictionis causa ex portentis et monstris Sibyllae
interpretes haruspicesve monuerunt, harum ego
rehgionum nullam umquam contemnendam putavi,
mihique ita persuasi, Romulum auspiciis Numam
sacris constitutis fundamenta iecisse nostrae civitatis,
quae numquam profecto sine summa placatione dec»
6 rum inmortahum tanta esse potuisset. Habes Balbe
quid Cotta quid pontifex sentiat ; fac nunc ego
intellegam tu quid sentias. A te enim philosopho
rationem accipere debeo rehgionis, maioribus autem
nostris etiam nulla ratione reddita credere."
III. Tum Balbus " Quam igitur a me rationem **
inquit " Cotta, desideras .'' "
Et ille " Quadripertita " inquit " fuit divisio tua,
primum ut velles docere deos esse, deinde quales
essent, tum ab iis mundum regi, postremo consulere
** Laelius when praetor, 143 b.c, successfully opposed a
proposal to transfer the election of the augurs to the people,
instcad of their being co-opted. Cf. § 43.
290
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. ii.— iii.
done so, and no eloquence of anybody, learned or
unlearned, shall ever dislodge me from the behef as
to the worship of the immortal gods which I have
inherited from our forefathers. But on any question
of rehgion I am guided by the high pontifts, Titus
Coruncanius, Publius Scipio and Pubhus Scaevola,
not by Zeno or Cleanthes or Chrysippus ; and I have
Gaius Laelius, who was both an augur and a philo-
sopher, to whose discourse upon rehgion, in hii
famous oration,^ I would rather listen than to any
leader of the Stoics. The rehgionof theRomanpeople
comprises ritual, auspices, and the third additional
division consisting of all such prophetic warnings as
the interpreters of the Sybil or the soothsayers have
derived from portents and prodigies. Well, I have
always thought that none of these departments of
rehgion was to be despised, and I have held the con-
viction that Romulus by his auspices and Numa by
his estabhshment of our ritual laid the foundations of
our state, which assuredly could never have been as
great as it is had not the fuhest measure of divine
favour been obtained for it. There, Balbus, is the
opinion of a Cotta and a pontifT; now oblige me by
letting me know yours. You are a philosopher, and
I ought to receive from you a proof of your rehgion,
whereas I must believe the word of our ancestors even
without proof."
III. " What proof then do you require of me,
Cotta ? " rephed Balbus.
" You divided your discourse under four heads," J?'®. (o'"
said Cotta ; " first you designed to prove the exist- thesubject.
ence of the gods ; secondly, to describe their nature ;
thirdly, to show that the world is governed by them ;
and lastly, that they care for the welfare of men.
291
CICERO
eos rebus humanis : haec, si recte memini, partitio
fuit."
" Rectissume " inquit Balbus, *' sed expecto quid
requiras."
7 Tum Cotta " Primum quidque videamus " inquit,
" et si id est primum quod inter omnis nisi admodum
impios convenit, mihi quidem ex animo excuti non
potest esse deos, id tamen ipsum, quod mihi per-
suasum est auctoritate maiorum, cur ita sit, nihil tu
me doces."
" Quid est " inquit Balbus, " si tibi persuasum
est, cur a me vehs discere ? "
Tum Cotta " Quia sic adgredior " inquit " ad
hanc disputationem quasi nihil umquam audierim de
dis inmortalibus nihil cogitaverim ; rudem me et
integrum discipulum accipe et ea quae requiro
doce."
8 " Dic igitur " inquit " quid requiras."
" Egone ? primum illud, cur, quom^ [perspicuum
in]^ istam partem^ ne egere quidem oratione dixisscs,
quod esset perspicuum et inter omnis constarct
<deos esse>,* de eo ipso tam multa dixeris."
" Quia te quoque " inquit " animadverti, Cotta,
saepe cum in foro diceres quam plurimis posses argu-
mentis onerare iudiccm, si modo eam facultatem tibi
daret causa. Atque hoc idem et philosophi faciunt
et ego ut potui feci. Tu autem qui id* quaeris
simiUter facis ac si me roges cur te duobus contuear
* quom Forchhammer : quod. ^ secl. Plasberg,
3 in ista partitione Heindor/. * add. Plasberg»
^ qui id dett. : quod.
292
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. iii.
These, if I remember rightly, were the headings tliat
you Inid down."
** You are quite right," said Balbus ; " but now
tell me what it is that you want to know."
" Let us take each point in turn," rephed Cotta, r. Tiiedivine
" and if the first one is the doctrine which is universally j^s^s y^.iJ).^
accepted save by absolute infidcls, although I for my
part cannot be persuaded to surrender my behef that
the gods exist, nevertheless you teach me no reason
why this belief, of which lam couvinced on the author-
ity of our forefathers, should be true."
" If you are convinced of it," said Balbus, " what
reason is there for your wanting me to teach you ? **
" Because," said Cotta, " I am entering on this dis-
cussion as if I had never been taught anything or
reflected at all about the immortal gods. Accept me
as a pupil who is a novice and entirely untutored, and
teach me what I want to know."
" Tell me then," said he, " what do you want to ifthebeiief
know ^ " inthegods
^^^"" • is necessary
" What do I want to kno^v ? First of all, why it was and uni-
that after saying that this part of your subject did not argument
even need discussion, because the fact of the divine i^ neediess,
existence was manifest and universally admitted, awaken
you nevertheless discoursed at such great length on ^°^^^
that very point."
" It was because I have often noticed that you too,
Cotta, when speaking in court, overwhehned the
judge with all the arguments you could think of,
provided the case gave you an opportunity to do so.
Well, the Greek philosophers do hkewise, and so did
I also, to the best of my abihty. But for you to ask
me this question is just the same as if you were to ask
me why I look at you with two eyes instead of closing
293
CICERO
oculis et non altero coniveam, cum idem uno adsequi
possim."
9 IV. Tum Cotta ** Quam simile istud sit " inquit
" tu videris. Nam ego neque in causis, si quid est
evidens de quo inter omnis conveniat, argumentari
soleo (perspicuitas enim argumentatione elevatur),
nec si id facerem in causis forensibus idem facerem
in hac subtilitate sermonis. Cur coniveres^ autem
altero oculo causa non esset, cum idem obtutus esset
amborum, et cum rerum natura, quam tu sapientem
esse vis, duo lumina ab animo ad oculos perforata nos
habere voluisset. Sed quia non confidebas tam esse id
perspicuum quam tu velles, propterea multis argu-
mentis deos esse docere voluisti. Mihi enim unum
sat erat, ita nobis maiores nostros tradidisse. Sed tu
10 auctoritates contemnis, ratione pugnas ; patere igitur
rationem meam cum tua ratione contendere.
" Adfers haec omnia argumenta cur di sint,
remque mea sententia minime dubiam argumen-
tando dubiam facis. Mandavi enim memoriae non
numerum solum sed etiam ordinem argumentorum
tuorum. Primum fuit, cum caelum suspexissemus
statim nos intellegere esse ahquod numen quo haec
regantur. Ex hoc illud etiam :
* Madvig : contueres.
294
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. iii.— iv.
one of them, seeing that I could achieve the same
result with one eye as with two.'*
9 IV. " How far your comparison really holds good,"
rejoined Cotta, " is a question that I will leave to you.
As a matter of fact in law-suits it is not my practice
to argue a point that is self-evident and admitted by
all parties, for argument would only diminish its
clearness ; and besides, if I did do this in pleading
cases in the courts, I should not do the same thing in
an abstract discussion Hke the present. But there
would be no real reason for your shutting one eye,
since both eyes have the same field of vision, and
since the nature of things, which you declare to be
possessed of wisdom, has willed that we should
possess two windows pierced from the mind to the
eyes. You did not really feel confident that the
doctrine of the divine existence was as self-evident
as you could wish, and for that reason you attempted
to prove it with a number of arguments. For my part
a single argument would have sufficedj namely that
it lias been handed down to us by our forefathers.
But you despise authority, and fight your battles
10 with the weapon of reason. Give permission there-
fore for my reason to join issue with yours.
" You adduce all these arguments to prove that
the gods exist, and by arguing you render doubtful
a matter which in my opinion admits of no doubt at
all. For I have committed to memory not only the xottrue
number but also the order of your arguments. The t|iat the
first was that when we look up at the sky, we at once heaUns
perceive that some power exists whereby the heavenly if|i*^gf\° *
bodies are governed. And from this you went on to r.od of
QUOte«: Nature;and
4"'^'-^ • common
a Book II 4 beliefis
r>ooK 11. 4. uareliable.
295
CICERO
aspice hoc sublime candens, quem invocant omnes lovem ;
11 quasi vero quisquani nostrum istum potius quam
Capitolinum lovem appellet, aut hoc perspicuum sit
constetque inter omnis, eos esse deos quos tibi Vel-
leius multique praeterea ne animantis quidem esse
concedant. Grave etiam argumentum tibi videbatur
quod opinio de dis inmortalibus et omnium esset et
cotidie cresceret : placet igitur tantas res opinione
stultorum iudicari, vobis praesertim qui illos insanos
esse dicatis ? V. ' At enim praesentis videmus deos,
ut apud Ptegillum Postumius, in Salaria Vatinius ' ;
nescio quid etiam de Locrorum apud Sagram proelio.
Quos igitur tu Tyndaridas appellabas, id est homines
homine natos, et quos Homerus, qui recens ab illorum
aetate fuit, sepultos esse dicit Lacedaemone, eos tu
cantheriis albis nullis calonibus ob viam Vatinio ve-
nisse existimas et victoriam popuU Romani Vatinio
potius homini rustico quam M. Catoni qui tum erat
princeps nuntiavisse ? Ergo et illud in sihce quod
hodie apparet apud Rcgillum tamquam vestigium un-
12 gulae. Castoris equi credis esse ? Nonne mavis illud
credere quod probari potest, animos praeclarorum
hominum, quales isti Tyndaridae fuerunt, divinos
esse et aeternos, quam eos qui semel cremati essent
" i.e.^ the heavenly bodies. " Buok II. 6.
296
rumour.
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. iv.— v.
Behold this dazzling vault of heaven, which all mankind
as Jove invoke ;
11 just as if anyone among us really gave the name of
Jove to your heaven rather than to Jove of the
Capitol, or as if it were self-evident and universally
agreed that those beings " are divine whom Velleius
and many others beside will not even grant you to be
ahve at all ! Also you thought it a weighty argument
that the belief in the immortal gods is universally
held and is spreading every day. Then is anybody
content that questions of such moment should be
decided by the behefs of the foohsh ? and particularly
yourselves, who say that all the fooHsh are mad ?
V. " But you say^ that the gods appear to us in Thestories
bodily presence — forinstance, they did to Postumius apfeadng
at Lake Reofillus and to Vatinius on the Via Salaria ; are mere
and also some story or other about the battle ot
the Locrians on the Sagra. Then do you really think
that the beings whom you call the sons of Tyndareus,
that is mortal men of mortal parentage, and whom
Homer, who lived not long after their period, states
to have been buried at Sparta, came riding on white
hacks with no retainers, and met Vatinius, and
selected a rough ccuntryman hke him to whom to
bring the news of a great national victory, instead of
Marcus Cato, who was the chief senator at the time ?
Well then, do you also beheve that the mark in the
rock resembhng a hoof-print, to be seen at the present
day on the shore of Lake Regillus, was made by
12 Castor's horse ? Would you not prefer to beheve the
perfectly credible doctrine that the souls of famous
men, hke the sons of Tyndareus you speak of, are
divine and Hve for ever, rather than that men who
had been once for ail burnt on a funeral pyre were
297
CICERO
equitare et in acie pugnare potuisse ? aut si hoc fieri
potuisse dicis, doceas oportet quo modo, nec fabellas
aniles proferas."
13 Tum Lucilius " An tibi " inquit " fabellae vi-
dentur ? Nonne ab A. Postumio aedem Castori et
Polluci in foro dedicatam, nonne senatus consultum
de Vatinio vides ? Nam de Sagra Graecorum etiam
est volgare proverbium, qui quae adfirmant certiora
esse dicunt quam illa quae apud Sagram. His igitur
auctoribus nonne debes moveri ? "
Tum Cotta " Rumoribus " inquit " mecum pugnas,
Balbe, ego autem a te rationes requiro . . .^
14 VI. "... sequuntur quae futura sunt ; efFugere
enim nemo id potest quod futurum est. Saepe autem
ne utile quidem est scire quid futurum sit ; miserum
est enim nihil proficientem angi nec habere ne spei
quidem extremum et tamen commune solacium, prae-
sertim cum vos iidem fato fieri dicatis omnia, quod
autem semper ex omni aeternitate verum fuerit id
esse fatum ; quid igitur iuvat aut quid adfert ad
cavendum scire aliquid futurum, cum id certe futurum
sit ? Unde porro ista divinatio ? Quis invenit fissum
iecoris, quis cornicis cantum notavit, quis sortis ?
Quibus ego credo, nec possum Atti Navii quem com-
memorabas lituum contemnere ; sed qui ista intel-
^ lacunam signavit Victorius.
' A part of Cotta's argument has here been lost, including
a transition to the subject of prophecies and presentiments.
C/. infr. 16 and Book II. 7. ' Book II. 9.
298
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. v.— vi.
able to ride on horseback and fight in a battle ? Or
if you maintain that this was possible, then you have
got to explain how it was possible, and not merely
bring forward old wives' tales."
13 " Do you really think them old wives' tales ? "
rejoined Lucihus. " Are you not aware of the temple
in the forum dedicated to Castor and Pollux by Aulus
Postumius, or of the resolution of the senate concern-
ing Vatinius ? As for the Sagra, the Greeks actually
have a proverbial saying about it : when they make
an assertion they say that it is * more certain than
the affair on the Sagra.' Surely their authority must
carry w^eight with you ? "
" Ah, Balbus," rephed Cotta, " you combat me
with hearsay for your weapon, but what I ask of you
is proof. . . ."
14 VI. "... the events that are going to happen Divination
follow ; for no one can escape what is going to happen. wouid^be^"*
But often it is not even an advantage to know what is useiess, and
going to happen ; for it is miserable to suffer unavail- prove°the
ins^ torments, and to lack even the last, yet universal, so^^'
6Xisti6DC6
consolation of hope, especially when your school
also asserts that all events are fated, fate mean-
ing that which has always from all eternity been
true : what good is it therefore to know that some-
thing is going to happen, or how does it help us to
avoid it, when it certainly will happen ? Moreover
whence was your art of divination derived ? Who
found out the cleft in the Uver ? Who took note of the
raven*s croaking, or the way in which the lots fall ?
Not that I don't beheve in these things, or care to
scoff at Attus Navius's crosier of which you were
speaking * ; but how did these modes of divination
come to be understood ? this is what the philosophers
299
CICERO
lecta sint a philosophis debeo discere, praesertim cum
15 plurimis de rebus divini^ isti mentiantur. ' At medici
quoque ' (ita enim dicebas) * saepe falluntur.' Quid
simile medicina, cuius ego rationem \ddeo, et divlna-
tio, quae unde oriatur non intellego ? Tu autem
etiam Deciorum devotionibus placatos deos esse
censes. Quae fuit eorum tanta iniquitas ut placari
populo Romano non possent nisi viri tales occidissent?
Consilium illud imperatorium fuit, quod Graeci
o-rpaT-qyrjixa appellant, sed eorum imperatorum qui
patriae consulerent vitae non parcerent ; rebantur
enim fore ut exercitus imperatorem equo incitato se
in hostem inmittentem persequeretur, id quod evenit.
Nam Fauni vocem equidem numquam audivi : tibi
si audivisse te dicis credam, etsi Faunus omnino quid
sit nescio. VII. Non igitur adhuc, quantum quidem
in te est, Balbe, intellego deos esse ; quos equidem
credo esse, sed nihil docent Stoici.
16 " Nam Cleanthes ut dicebas quattuor modis forma-
tas in animis hominum putat deorum esse notiones.
Unus ex his is'' modus est de quo satis dixi, qui est
susceptus ex praesensione rerum futurarum ; alter
ex perturbationibus tempestatum et reliquis motibus;
tertius ex commoditate rerum quas percipimus et
copia ; quartus ex astrorum ordine caehque constantia.
De praesensione diximus. De perturbationibus
^ d^t. : divinis A, B.
* Dieckhoff: unus is A^ unus ex his B.
« Book II. 12. » Book II. 6.
800
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. vi.— vii.
miist teach me, especially as your diviners tell such
15 a pack of lies. ' Well, but physicians also are often
wrong ' — this was your argument." But what re-
semblance is there between medicine, whose rational
basis I can see, and divination, the source of which
I cannot understand ? Again, you think that the
gods were actually propitiated by the sacrifice of the
Decii. But how can the gods have been so unjust
that their wrath against the Roman people could
only be appeased by the death of heroes Hke the
Decii ? No, the sacrifice of the Decii was a device of
generalship, or straiegema as it is termed in Greek,
though a device for generals who were ready to give
their lives in their country's service ; their notion
was that if a commander rode full gallop against the
foe his troops would follow him, and so it proved. As
for the utterances of a Faun,^ I never heard one, but
if you say you have, I will take your word for it, al-
though what on earth a Faun may be I do not know.
VII. As yet therefore, Balbus, so far as it depends
on you I do not understand the divine existence ;
I beheve in it, but the Stoics do not in the least
explain it.
16 " As for Cleanthes, his view is, as you were telling invaiidityof
us, that ideas of the gods are formed in men's minds in ar!uli,^ent'
four ways. One of these ways I have sufRciently dis- from the
cussed, the one derived from our foreknowledge of fnlpiring
future events ; the second is based on meteorological pjienomena
disturbances and the other changes of the weather ;
the third on the utility and abundance of the com-
modities which are at our disposal ; and the fourth
on the orderly movements of the stars and the regu-
larity of the licavens. About foreknowledge we have
spoken. As for meteorological disturbances by land
301
CICERO
caelestibus et maritimis et terrenis non possumus
dicere, cum ea fiant, non esse multos qui illa metuant
17 et a dis inmortalibus fieri existument ; sed non id
quaeritur, sintne aliqui qui deos esse putent : di utrum
sint necne sint quaeritur. Nam reliquae causae quas
Cleanthes adfert, quarum una est de commodorum
quae capimus copia, altera de temporum ordine
caelique constantia, tum tractabuntur a nobis cum
disputabimus de providentia deorum, de qua plurima
18 a te, Balbe, dicta sunt ; eodemque illa etiam differe-
mus, quod Chrysippum dicere aiebas, quoniam esset
ahquid in rerum natura quod ab homine effici non
posset, esse aliquid homine melius, quaeque in domo
pulchra cum pulchritudine mundi comparabas, et
cum totius mundi convenientiam consensumque
adferebas ; Zenonisque brevis et acutulas con-
clusiones in eam partem sermonis quam modo dixi
differemus, eodemque tempore illa omnia quae a te
physice dicta sunt de vi ignea deque eo calore ex
quo omnia generari dicebas, loco suo quaerentur ;
omniaque quae a te nudius tertius dicta sunt, cum
docere velles deos esse, quare et mundus universus et
sol et luna et stellae sensum ac mentem haberent,
19 in idem tempus reservabo. A te autem idem illud
etiam atque etiam quaeram, quibus rationibus tibi
persuadeas deos esse."
VIII. Tum Balbus : " Equidem attulisse rationes
302
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. vii.— viii.
and sea, we cannot deny that there are many people
who are afraid of these occurrences and think them
17 to be caused by the immortal gods ; but the question
is not, are there any people who think that the gods
exist, — the question is, do the gods exist or do they
not ? As for the remaining reasons adduced by
Cleanthes, the one derived from the abundance of the
commodities bestowed upon us, and the other from
the ordered sequence of the seasons and the regularity
of the heavens, we will treat of these when we come
to discuss divine providence, about which you,
18 Balbus, said a great deal ; and we defer to the same other
time the argument which you attributed to Chrys- addiced b^j
ippus, that since there exists something in the uni- Baibus
verse which could not be created by man, some being ^ ®
must exist of a higher order than man ; as also your
comparison of the beautiful furniture in a house with
the beauty of the world, and your reference to the
harmony and common purpose of the whole world ;
and Zeno's terse and pointed little syllogisms mc
will postpone to that part of my discourse which I
have just mentioned ; and at the same time all your
arguments of a scientific nature about the fiery force
and heat which you alleged to be the universal source
of generation shall be examined in their place ; and
all that you said the day before yesterday, when at-
tempting to prove the divine existence, to show that
both the world as a whole and the sun and moon and
stars possess sensation and intelHgence, I will kecp
19 for the same occasion. But the question I shall have
to ask you over and over again, as before, is this :
what are your reasons for believing that the gods
cxist .''
VIII. " Why," repHed Balbus, " I really think I
303
CICERO
mihi \ideor, sed eas tu ita refellis ut, cum me inter-
rogaturus esse \ideare et ego me ad respondendum
compararim, repente avertas orationem nec des
respondendi locum. Itaque maximae res tacitae
praeterierunt, de divinatione de fato, quibus de quae-
stionibus tu quidem strictim nostri autem multa
solent dicere, sed ab hac ea quaestione quae nunc in
manibus est separantur ; quare si videtur noli agere
confuse, ut hoc explicemus hac disputatione quod
quaeritur."
20 " Optime " inquit Cotta. " Itaque quoniam quattuor
in partes totam quaestionem divisisti de primaque
diximus, consideremus secundam ; quae mihi talis
videtur fuisse, ut, cum ostendere velles quales di
essent, ostenderes nullos esse. A consuetudine enim
oculorum animum abducere difficillimum dicebas ;
sed, cum deo nihil praestantius esset, non dubitabas
quin mundus esset deus, quo nihil in rerum natura
melius esset. Modo possemus eum animantem
cogitare, vel potius ut cetera ocuHs sic animo hoc
21 cernere ! Sed cum mundo negas quicquam esse melius,
quid dicis meUus ? Si pulchrius, adsentior ; si aptius
ad utihtates nostras, id quocjue adsentior ; sin autem
id dicis, nihil esse mundo sapientius, nullo modo
prorsus adsentior, non quod difficile sit mentem ab
304
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. viii.
have produced my reasons, but so far from your re-
futing them, every time when you seem to be on the
point of subjecting me to an examination and I get
ready to reply, you suddenly switch off the discussion,
and do not give me an opportunity of answering.
And so matters of the first importance have passed
without remark — such as divination, and fate, sub-
jects which you dismiss very briefly, whereas our
school is accustomed to say a great deal about them,
though they are quite distinct from the topic with
which we are now deaUng. Please therefore adopt an
orderly mode of procedure, and in this debate let us
clear up this question that is now before us."
20 " By all means," said Cotta ; " and accordingly, n. The
as you divided the whole subject into four parts, and ^^^Vifr^
we have spoken about the first part, let us consider (§§ 20-64).
the second. It seems to me to have amounted to i^^beantifui
this : you intended to show what the gods are Hke, but why
but you actually showed them to be non-existent. ^y^sel^^^
For you said that it is very difficult to divert the mind
from its association with the eyes ; yet you did not
hesitate to argue that, since nothing is more excellent
than god, the world must be god, because there is
nothing in the universe superior to the world. Yes,
if we could but imagine the world to be alive, or
rather, if we could but discern this truth with our
minds exactly as we see external objects with our
21 eyes ! But when you say that nothing is superior to
the world, what do you mean by superior ? If you
mean more beautiful, I agree ; if more suited to our
convenience, I agree to that too ; but if what you
mean is that nothing is wiser than the world, I
entirely and absolutely disagree ; not because it
is difficult to divorce the mind from the eyes, but
305
CICERO
oculis sevocare, sed quo magis sevoco eo minus id
quod tu vis possum mente comprehendere. IX. 'Nihil
est mundo mehus in rerum natura.' Ne in terris
quidem urbe nostra : num igitur idcirco in urbe esse
rationem cogitationem mentem putas, aut, quoniam
non sit,num idcirco existimas formicam anteponendam
esse huic pulcherrumae urbi, quod in urbe sensus sit
nullus, in formica non modo sensus sed etiam mens
ratio memoria ? Videre oportet, Balbe, quid tibi
22 concedatur, non te ipsum quod vehs sumere. Istum
enim locum totum illa vetus Zenonis brevis et ut
tibi videbatur acuta conclusio dilatavit. Zeno enim
ita concludit : ' Quod ratione utitur id mehus est quam
id quod ratione non utitur ; nihil autem mundo me-
23 hus ; ratione igitur mundus utitur.' Hoc si placet,
iam eflficies ut mundus optime hbrum legere videatur;
Zenonis enim vestigiis hoc modo rationem poteris
concludere : ' Quod htteratum est id est mehus quam
quod non est htteratum ; nihil autem mundo mehus ;
htteratus igitur est mundus.' Isto modo etiam diser-
tus et quidem mathematicus, musicus, omni denique
doctrina eruditus, postremo philosophus.^ Saepe
dixisti nihil fieri nisi ex eo, nec iham vim esse naturae
ut sui dissimiha pos>et effingere : concedam non
modo animantem et sapientem esse mundum sed
fidicinem etiam et tubicinem, quoniam earum quoque
artium homines ex eo procreantur ? Nihil igitur
^ post philosophus addit erit mundus det.
• The text is certainly corrupt, being self-contradictory
and contradicting ii. 20.
306
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. viii.— ix.
because the more I do so, the less my mind succecds
in grasping your meaning. IX. * There is nothing in
the universe superior to the world.' No more is there
anytliing on earth superior to our city ; but you do
not therefore think that our city possesses a reasoning,
thinking mind ? or, because it does not, you do not
therefore consider, do you, that an ant is to be
rated more highly than this supremely beautiful
city, on the ground that a city does not possess sensa-
tion whereas an ant has not only sensation, but also a
mind that reasons and remembers ? You ought to see
what you can get your opponent to admit, Balbus, not
22 take for granted anything you hke. The whole of zenoprovf
this topic of yours was expanded " tersely, and as you *°° m^ich.
thought effectively, by the famous old syllogism of
Zeno. Zeno puts the argument thus : ' That which
is rational is superior to that which is not rational ;
but nothing is superior to the world ; therefore the
23 world is rational.' If you accept this conclusion, you
will go on to prove that the world is perfectly able to
read a book ; for following in Zeno's footsteps you
will be able to construct a syllogism as follows :
' That which is Uterate is superior to that which is
ilHterate ; but nothing is superior to the world ;
therefore the world is hterate.' By this mode of
reasoning the world will also be an orator, and even
a mathematician, a musician, and in fact an expert in
every branch of learning, in fine a philosopher. You
kept repeating that the world is the sole source of all
created things, and that nature's capacity does not
include the power to create things unhke herself :
am I to admit that the world is not only a Hving being,
and wise, but also a harper and a flute-player, be-
cause it gives birth also to men skilled in these arts ?
307
CICERO
adfert pater iste Stoicorum quare mundum ratione
uti putemus, ne cur animantem quidem esse. Non
est igitur mundus deus ; et tamen nihil est eo melius,
nihil est enim eo pulchrius, nihil salutarius nobis,
nihil ornatius aspectu motuque constantius.
" Quodsi mundus universus non est deus, ne stellae
quidem, quas tu innumerabihs in deorum numero
reponebas. Quarum te cursus aequabiles aeternique
delectabant, nec mehercule iniuria, sunt enim ad-
24 mirabili incredibihque constantia. Sed non omnia,
Balbe, quae cursus certos et constantis habent ea
deo potius tribuenda sunt quam naturae. X. Quid
Chalcidico Euripo in motu identidem reciprocando
putas fieri posse constantius, quid freto SiciHensi,
quid Oceani fervore illis in locis
Europam Libj-amque rapax ubi dividit unda ?
Quid ? aestus maritimi vel Hispanienses vel Britan-
nici eorumque certis temporibus vel accessus vel
recessus sine deo fieri non possunt ? Vide, quaeso,
si omnes motus omniaque quae certis temporibus
ordinem suum conservant divina dicimus, ne tertianas
quoque febres et quartanas divinas esse dicendum sit,
quarum reversione et motu quid potest esse con-
stantius ? Sed omnium talium rerum ratio reddenda
25 est ; quod vos cum facere non potestis, tamquam in
aram confugitis ad deum.
" Et Chrysippus tibi acute dicere videbatur, homo
308
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. ix.— x.
Well then, your father of the Stoic school really
adduces no reason why we should think that the
world is rational, or even alive. Therefore the world
is not god ; and nevertheless there is nothing superior
to the world, for there is nothing more beautiful than
it, nothing more conducive to our health, nothing
more ornate to the view, or more regular in motion.
" And if the world as a whole is not god, neither xhe
are the stars, which in all their countless numbers you oahe^Srs
wanted to reckon as gods, enlarging with delight the work
upon their uniform and everlasting movements, and '
I protest with good reason, for they display a mar-
24 vellous and extraordinary regularity. But not all
things, Balbus, that have fixed and regular courses
are to be accredited to a god rather than to nature.
X. What occurrence do you think could possibly be
more regular than the repeated alternation of flow in
the Euripus at Chalcis ? or in the Straits of Messina ?
or than the eddying ocean-currents in the region
U'here
Europe and Libya by the hurrying wave
Are sundered ?
Cannot the tides on the coasts of Spain or Britain ebb
and flow at fixed intervals of time without a god's in-
tervention ? Why, if all motions and all occurrences
that preserve a constant periodic regularity are de-
clared to be divine, pray shall we not be obhged to
say that tertian and quartan agues are divine too, for
nothing can be more regular than the process of their
recurrence ? But all such phenomena call for a
25 rational explanation ; and in your inabiHty to give
such an explanation you fly for refuge to a god.
" Also you admired the cleverness of an argument Chrys-
of Chrysippus, who was undoubtedly an adroit and arguments
309
CICERO
sine dubio versutus et callidus (versutos eos appello
quorum celeriter mens versatur, callidos autem quo-
rum tamquam manus opere sic animus usu con-
calluit) ; is igitur * Si aliquid est ' inquit ' quod homo
efficere non possit, qui id efficit melior est homine ;
homo autem haec quae in mundo sunt efficere non
potest ; qui potuit igitur is praestat homini ; homini
autem praestare quis possit nisi deus ? est igitur
deus.' Haec omnia in eodem quo illa Zenonis errore
26 versantur ; quid enim sit mehus, quid praestabihus,
quid inter naturam et rationem intersit, non distin-
guitur. Idemque, si dei non sint, negat esse in omni
natura quicquam homine mehus ; id autem putare
quemquam hominem, nihil homine esse mehus, sum-
mae adrogantiae censet esse. Sit sane adrogantis
pluris se putare quam mundum ; at illud non modo
non adrogantis sed potius prudentis, intellegere se
habere sensum et rationem, haec eadem Orionem et
Caniculam non habere. Et ' Si domus pulchra sit,
intellegamus eam dominis * inquit ' aedificatam esse,
non muribus ; sic igitur mundum deorum domum ex-
istimare debemus.' Ita prorsus existimarem, si illum
aedificatum esse.. non quem ad modum docebo a
natura conformatum putarem.
27 XI. " At enim quaerit apud Xenophontem Socrates
unde animum arripuerimus si nullus fuerit in mundo.
Et ego quaero unde orationem unde numeros unde
" Callidus, ' clever,' is actually derived from callumt
* hardened skin,' as Cicero su^gests, and so means ' practised,'
*expert.'
^ The passage here anticipated is lost. • See ii. 18.
SIO
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. x.— xi.
hardy ° thinker (I apply the adjective * adroit ' to as to man'i
persons of nimble wit, and ' hardy ' to those whose equaUy" ^
minds have grown hard with use as the hand is invaiid.
hardened by work) ; well, Chrysippus argues thus :
* If anything exists that man is not capable of creat-
ing, he that creates that thing is superior to man ;
but man is not capable of creating the objects that we
see in the world ; therefore he that was capable of so
doing surpasses man ; but who could surpass man
save god ? therefore god exists.' The whole of this
is involved in the same mistake as the argument of
26 Zcno ; no definition is given of the meaning of
' superior ' and ' more excellent,' or of the distinction
between nature and reason. Chrysippus furthermore
declares that, if there be no gods, the natural universe
contains nothing superior to man ; but for any man to
think that there is nothing superior to man he deems
to be the height of arrogance. Let us grant that it is
a mark of arrogance to value oneself more highly than
the world ; but not merely is it not a mark of arro-
gance, rather is it a mark of wisdom, to realize that
one is a conscious and rational being, and that Orion
and Canicula are not. Again, he says ' If we saw a
handsome mansion, we should infer that it was built
for its masters and not for mice ; so therefore we
must deem the world to be the mansion of the gods.'
Assuredly I should so deem it if I thought it had been
built hke a house, and not constructed by nature, as
I shall show that it was.^ refu?ed1
27 XI. "ButthenyoutellmethatSocratesinXenophon man'»
asks the question, if the world contains no rational dueto
soul, where did we pick up ours ? " And I too ask the ^^^^^^' ^^^
question, where did we get the faculty of speech, iiature'8
the knowledge of numbers, the art of music ? unless hamonj.
311
CICERO
cantus ; nisi vero loqui solem cum luna putamus cum
propius accesserit, aut ad harmoniam canere mundum
ut Pythagoras existimat. Naturae ista sunt, Balbe,
naturae non artificiose ambulantis ut ait Zeno, quod
quidem quale sit, iam videbimus, sed omnia cientis
28 et agitantis motibus et mutationibus suis. Itaque illa
mihi placebat oratio de convenientia consensuque na-
turae, quam quasi cognatione continuata conspirare
dicebas : illud non probabam, quod negabas id acci-
dere potuisse nisi ea uno divino spiritu contineretur.
Illa vero cohaeret et permanet naturae viribus, non
deorum, estque in ea iste quasi consensus, quam crv/x-
Trddetav Graeci vocant, sed ea quo sua sponte maior
est eo minus divina ratione fieri existimanda est.
29 XII. " Illa autem, quae Carneades adferebat, quem
ad modum dissolvitis ? Si nuUum corpus inmortale sit,
nullum esse corpus^ sempiternum ; corpus autem in-
mortale nuUum esse, ne individuum quidem nec quod
dirimi distrahive non possit. Cumque omne animal
patibilem naturam habeat, nullum est eorum quod
efFugiat accipiendi aUquid extrinsecus, id est quasi
ferendi et patiendi, necessitatem, et si omne animal
tale est inmortale nullum est. Ergo itidem, si omne
animal secari ac dividi potest, nullum est eorum in-
dividuum, nuUum aeternum ; atqui omne animal ad
accipiendam vim externam et ferundam paratum est ;
* corpus: animal (auctore Madvig) Balter.
" For the ' music of the spheres ' cf. ii. 19, and Plato, Bep.
X. 617 B. " See ii. 57. « i. 54.
312
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xi.— xii.
indeed we suppose that the sun holds conversation
with the moon when their courses approximate, or
that the world makes a harmonious music,** as Pyth-
agoras believes. These faculties, Balbus, are the gifts
of nature — not nature ' walking in craftsmanhke
manner ' as Zeno ^ says (and what this means we
will consider in a moment), but nature by its own
motions and mutations imparting motion and activity
28 to all things. And so I fully agreed with the part of
your discourse ^ that dealt with nature's punctual
regularity, and what you termed its concordant
interconnexion and correlation ; but I could not
accept your assertion that this could not have come
about were it not held together by a single divine
breath. On the contrary, the system's coherence and
persistence is due to nature's forces and not to divine
power ; she does possess that ' concord ' (the Greek
term is sympatheia) of which you spoke, but the greater
this is as a spontaneous growth, the less possible is it
to suppose that it was created by divine reason.
29 XII. " Then, how does your school refute the follow- carneades
ing arguments of Carneades ? If no body is not Hable proved that
to death, no body can be everlasting ; but no body tiiing 1^'"°
is not Hable to death, nor even indiscerptible nor in- "Jia^use a )
capable of decomposition and dissolution. And every corporeai,'
Hvlng thing is by its nature capable of feeHng ; there- sionabie'^^^*
fore there is no Hving thing that can escape the un-
avoidable HabiHty to undergo impressions from ^vith-
out, that is to suffer and to feel ; and if every Hving
thing is Hable to suffering, no Hving thing is not Hable
to death. Therefore Hkewise, if every Hving thing
can be cut up into parts, no Hving thing is indivisible,
and none is everlasting. But every Hving thing is so
construeted as to be Hable to undergo and to suffer
313
CICERO
mortale igitur omne animal et dissolubile et dividuum
30 sit necesse est. Ut enim,^ si omnis cera commutabilis
esset, nihil esset cereum quod commutari non posset,
item nihil argenteum nihil aeneum si commutabilis
esset natura argenti et aeris — similiter igitur, si
omnia [quae sunt]'' e quibus cuncta constant muta-
biHa sunt, nullum corpus esse potest non mutabile ;
mutabiUa autem sunt illa ex quibus omnia constant,
ut vobis videtur ; omne igitur corpus mutabile est.
At si esset corpus aUquod inmortale, non esset omne
mutabile. Ita efficitur ut omne corpus mortale sit.
Etenim omne corpus aut aqua aut aer aut ignis aut
terra est, aut id quod est concretum ex his aut ex
ahqua parte eorum ; horum autem nihil est quin
31 intereat ; nam et terrenum omne dividitur, et umor
ita molhs est ut facile premi conhdique possit, ignis
vero et aer omni pulsu facilHme pelHtur naturaque
cedens est maxume et dissupabihs ; praetereaque
omnia haec tum intereunt cum in naturam aham
convertuntur, quod fit cum terra in aquam se vertit
et cum ex aqua oritur aer, ex aere aether, cumque
eadem vicissim retro commeant ; quodsi ea inter-
eunt e quibus constat omne animal, nullum est animal
32 sempiternum. XIII. Et ut haec omittamus, tamen
animal nullum inveniri potest quod neque natum
umquam sit et semper sit futurum ; omne enim animal
sensus habet ; sentit igitur et caUda et frigida et
* necesset enim 'pr. B : necesse est. etenim ci. Plasherg.
* secl. Schoniann : si omnia e quibus quae sunt cuncta
constant Ileindorf: si ea e quibus constant omnia quaesunt
Mayor : lacunam signcU Plasherg,
314
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xii.— xiii.
violence from \vithout ; it therefore follows that
every hving thing is hable to death and dissolution,
30 and is divisible. For just as, if all wax were capable
of change, nothing made of wax would be incapable
of change, and hkewise nothing made of silver or
bronze if silver and bronze were substances capable (iii.)cora.
of change, therefore similarly, if all the elements of ei^^nents
which all thin^s are composed are hable to chang-e, tiiemseives
, 111 111 1 1 ^ mntableand
tnere can be no body not hable to change ; but the destruct-
elements of which, according to your school, all things '^^®'
are composed are hable to change ; therefore every
body is hable to change. But if any body were not
hable to death, then not every body would be hable
to change. Hence it follows that every body is hable
to death. In fact every body consists of either water
or air or fire or earth, or of a combination of these ele-
ments or some of them ; but none of these elements
31 is exempt from destruction ; for everything of an
earthy nature is divisible, and also hquid substance
is soft and therefore easily crushed and broken up,
while fire and air are very readily impelled by impacts
of all kinds, and are of a consistency that is extremely
yielding and easily dissipated ; and besides, all these
elements perish when they undergo transmutation,
which occurs when earth turns into water, and when
from water arises air, and from air aether, and wlien
alternately the same processes are reversed ; but if
those elements of which every hving thing consists
32 can perish, no h\dng thing is everlasting. XIII. And, :iv.)sus-
to drop this hne of argument, nevertheless no hving piLsure°
thing can be found which either was never born or ^°*^ P*''^
will hve for ever. For every hving thing has sensa-
tion ; therefore it perceives both heat and cold, both
sweetness and sourness — it cannot tlirough any of the
315
CICERO
dulcia et amara necpotest uUo sensu iucunda accipere,
non accipere contraria ; si igitur voluptatis sensum
capit, doloris etiam capit ; quod autem dolorem
accipit, id accipiat etiam interitum necesse est ; omne
33 igitur animal confitendum est esse mortale. Praeter-
ea, si quid est quod nec voluptatem sentiat nec
dolorem, id animal esse non potest, sin autem quid
animal est, id illa necesse est sentiat ; et quod ea
sentit non potest esse aeternum ; et omne animal
sentit ; nullum igitur animal aeternum est. Praeter-
ea nuUum potest esse animal in quo non et
adpetitio sit et declinatio naturalis ; appetuntur
autem quae secundum naturam sunt, declinantur con-
traria ; et omne animal adpetit quaedam et tugit a
quibusdam, quod autem refugit, id contra naturam
est, et quod est contra naturam, id habet vim inter-
imendi ; omne ergo animal intereat necesse est.
34 Innumerabilia sunt ex quibus effici cogique possit
nihil esse quod sensum habeat quin id intereat ; et-
enim ea ipsa quae sentiuntur, ut frigus ut calor ut
voluptas ut dolor ut cetera, cum amphficata sunt
interimunt ; nec uhum animal est sine sensu ;
nullum igitur animal aeternum est. XIV. Etenim
aut simplex est natura animantis, ut vel terrena sit
vel ignea vel animahs vel umida, quod quale sit ne
inteUegi quidem potest; aut concreta ex pluribus
316
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xiii.— xiv.
senses receive pleasant sensations and not receive
their opposites ; if therefore it is capable of feeHng
pleasure, it is also capable of feehng pain ; but a
being which can experience pleasure must necessarily
also be hable to destruction ; therefore it must be
admitted that every hving thing is hable to death.
33 Besides, if there be anything that cannot feel either (v.) po3-
pleasure or pain, this cannot be a hving thing, and i^fkesand
if on the other hand anything is ahve, this must disjikes,
necessarily feel pleasure and pain ; and that which disiikes is
feels pleasure and pain cannot be everlasting ; and destmctive.
exery hving thing feels them ; therefore no hving
thing is everlasting. Besides, there can be no hving
thing which does not possess natural instincts of
appetition and avoidance ; but the objects of appe-
tition are the things which are in accordance \\ith
nature, and the objects of avoidance are the con-
trary ; and every hving thing seeks certain things and
flees from certain things, but that which it flees
from is contrary to nature, and that which is con-
trary to nature has the power of destruction ; there-
fore every h\ang thing must of necessity perish.
34 There are proofs too numerous to count by which it (vi.)
can be irrefra^ablv estabhshed that there is nothino; ?^P*bi« o'
possessed of sensation that does not perish ; in fact sensation,
the actual objects of sensation, such as cold and heat,
pleasure and pain, and the rest, when felt in an
intense degree cause destruction ; nor is any hving
thing devoid of sensation ; therefore no hving thing
is everlasting. XIV. For every hving thing must (vii.) com-
either be of a simple substance, and composed of ['°^*^® ^""^
either earth or fire or breath or moisture — and such dissoiubie.
an animal is inconceivable — , or else of a substance
compounded of several elements, each having its own
M 317
CICERO
naturis, quarum suum quaeque locum habeat quo
naturae \i feratur, alia infimum alia summum alia
medium : haec ad quoddam tempus cohaerere
possunt, semper autem nullo modo possunt, necesse
est enim in suum quaeque locum natura rapiatur ;
nullum igitur animal est sempiternum.
35 " Sed omnia vestri, Balbe, solent ad igneam vim
referre, Heraclitum ut opinor sequentes, quem ipsum
non omnes interpretantur uno modo ; qui quoniam
quid diceret intellegi noluit, omittamus ; vos autem
ita dicitis, omnem \dm esse igneam, itaque et ani-
mantis cum calor defecerit tum interire et in omni
natura rerum id vivere id vigere quod caleat. Ego
autem non intellego quo modo calore extincto cor-
pora intereant,non intereant umore aut spiritu amisso,
36 praesertim cum intereant etiam nimio calore ; quam
ob rem id quidem commune est de calido ; verum
tamen videamus exitum. Ita voltis opinor, nihil esse
animal intrinsecus in natura atque mundo praeter
ignem : qui magis quam praeter animam, unde ani-
mantium quoque constet animus, ex quo animal dici-
tur ? Quo modo autem hoc quasi concedatur sumitis,
nihil esse animum nisi ignem ? probabiHus enim vide-
tur tale quiddam esse animum ut sit ex igni atque
anima temperatum. Quodsi ignis ex sese ipse ani-
mal est nulla se aha admiscente natura, quoniam is,
cum inest in corporibus nostris, efficit ut sentiamus,
non potest ipse esse sine sensu. Rursus eadem dici
" A fragment of Heraclitus runs ' The same world of all
things none of the gods nor any man did make, but it
always was and is and will be ever-hving fire, being kindled
by measures and extinguished by measures.'
' He was called 'the dark'; clarus ob obscuram linguam
Lucretius i. 639.
318
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xiv.
place towards >\hich it travels by natural impulsion,
one to the bottom, another to the top and another to
the middle ; such elements can cohere for a certain
time, but cannot possibly do so for ever, for eacli
must of necessity be borne away by nature to its
own place ; therefore no Hving thing is everlasting.
35 " But your school, Balbus, is wont to trace all things Firw is not
back to an elemental force of a fiery nature, herein as ess^ential
I beheve foUowing Herachtus,'* although all do not ^ ^i^^ '»
interpret the master in one way ; however, as he
did not wish his meaning to be understood,^ let us
lcave him out ; but your doctrine is that all force is
of the nature of fire, and that because of this animal
creatures perish when their heat fails and also in
every realm of nature a thing is aUve and vigorous if
it is wami. But I for my part do not understand how
organisms should perish if their heat is quenched
without perishing if deprived of moisture orair,especi-
36 ally as they also perish from excessive heat ; there-
fore what you say about heat applies also to the other
elements. However, let us see what follows. Your
view, I beheve, is that there is no animate being
contained within the whole universe of nature except
fire. Why fire any more than air (anima), of which
also the soul (animus) of animate beings consists,
from which the term ' animate ' is derived ? On
M-hat ground moreover do you take it for granted that
there is no soul except fire ? It seems more reasonable
to hold that soul is of a composite nature, and consists
of fire and air combined. However, if fire is animate b"tif itl»
in and by itself, without the admixture of any other of feeiing,
element, it is the presence of fire in our own bodies ^^VsJ^^g.^
that causes us to possess sensation, and therefore fire tibie,
itself cannot be devoid of sensation. Here we can
319
CICERO
possunt : quidquid est enim quod sensum habeat, id
necesse est sentiat et voluptatem et dolorem, ad quem
autem dolor veniat ad eundem etiam interitum venire ;
ita fit ut ne ignem quidem efRcere possitis aeternum.
37 Quid enim ? non eisdem vobis placet omnem ignem
pastus indigere, nec permanere ullo modo posse
nisi alatur ? ali autem solem, lunam, reliqua astra
aquis, alia dulcibus, alia marinis ? Eamque causam
Cleanthes adfert
cur se sol referat nec longius progrediatur
solstitiali orbi,
itemque brumaU, ne longius discedat a cibo. Hoc
totum quale sit mox ; nunc autem concludatur illud :
quod interire possit id aeternum non esse natura;
ignem autem interiturum esse nisi alatur; non esse
igitur natura ignem sempiternum.
38 XV. " Qualem autem deum intellegere nos pos-
sumus nuUa virtute praeditum ? Quid enim ? pru-
dentiamne deo tribuemus, quae constat ex scientia
rerum bonarum et malarum et nec bonarum nec
malarum ? cui maU nihil est nec esse potest, quid
huic opus est dilectu bonorum et malorum ? Quid
autem ratione, quid intellegentia ? quibus utimur
ad eam rem ut apertis obscura adsequamur ; at
obscurum deo nihil potest esse. Nam iustitia, quae
suum cuique distribuit, quid pertinet ad deos ?
hominum enim societas et communitas, ut vos
dicitis, iustitiam procreavit. Temperantia autem
« See § 32.
^ Mayor detected this verse quotation from an unknown
source. Cf. ii. 25.
320
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xiv.— xv.
repeat the argument employed before ** : whatever
has sensation must necessarily feel both pleasure and
pain, but he who is hable to pain must also be hable
to destruction ; from this it follows that you are
37 unable to prove fire also to be everlasting. Moreover, especiaiiy
do you not also hold that all fire requires fuel, and Je.^uireg
cannot possibly endure unless it is fed ? and that the ^^^^-
sun, moon and other heavenly bodies draw susten-
ance in some cases from bodies of fresh water and in
other cases from the sea ? This is the reason given
by Cleanthes to explain vvhy
The sun turns back, nor farther doth proceed
Upon his summer curve,*
and upon his winter one hkewise ; it is that he may
not travel too far away from his food. We will defer
consideration of the whole of tliis subject ; for the
present let us end with the following syllogism :
That which can perish cannot be an eternal sub-
stance ; but fire will perish if it is not fed ; therefore
fire is not an eternal substance.
38 XV. " But what can we make of a god not endowed The recog-
with any virtue ? Well, are we to assign to god pru- vJrtnes in-
dence, which consists in the knowledge of things good, compatibie
things evil, and things neither good nor evil ? to a divine
being who experiences and can experience nothing JJl'^!^
evil, what need is there of the power to choose without
between things good and evil ? Or of reason, or of in- ciSvabia
telhgence ? these faculties we employ for the purpose
of proceeding from the known to the obscure ; but
nothing can be obscure to god. Then justice, which
assigns to each his own — what has this to do with the
gods ? justice, as you tell us, is the offspring of human
society and of the commonwealth of man. And
32]
CICERO
constat ex praetermittendis voluptatibiis corporis, cui
si locus in caelo est, est etiam voluptatibus. Nam
fortis deus intellegi qui potest ? in dolore ? an in
labore ? an in periculo ? quorum deum nihil attingit.
39 Nec ratione igitur utentem nec virtute ulla prae-
ditum deum intellegere qui possumus ?
" Nec vero volgi atque imperitorum inscitiam
despicere possum, cum ea considero quae dicuntur
a Stoicis. Sunt enim illa imperitorum : piscem
Syri venerantur, omne fere genus bestiarum Aegyptii
consecraverunt ; iam vero in Graecia multos habent
ex hominibus deos, Alabandum Alabandis, Tenedii
Tennen, Leucotheam quae fuit Ino et eius Palae-
monem filium cuncta Graecia, Herculem Aescu-
lapium Tyndaridas ; Romulum nostri ahosque
compluris, quos quasi novos et adscripticios cives in
40 caelum receptos putant. XVI. Haec igitur indocti ;
quid vos philosophi ? qui mehora ? Omitto illa, sunt
enim praeclara : sit sane deus ipse mundus — hoc
credo illud esse
sublime candens, quem invocant omnes lovem.
Quare igitur pluris adiungimus deos ? Quanta autem
est eorum multitudo ! Mihi quidem sane multi viden-
tur ; singulas enim stellas numeras deos eosque aut
beluarum nomine appellas, ut Capram ut Nepam
• The conclusion implied is that no god exists.
^ Atargatis or Derceto (Dagon), a fish wilh a woman's
face, worshipped at Ascalon.
322
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xv.— xvi.
teniperance consists in forgoing bodilv pleasures ;
so if there is room for temperance in heaven, there is
also room for pleasure. As for courage, how can i^od
be conceived as brave ? in enduring pain ? or toil ? or
39 dano^er ? to none of these is god hable. God then is
neither rational nor possessed of any of the virtues :
but such a god is inconceivable ** !
" In fact, when I reflect upon the utterances of the Popuiar
Stoic^, I cannot despise the stupidity of the vulgar S^morl^
and the ignorant. With the ignorant you get super- '^"^^^^^^^
stitions hke the Syrians' worship of a fish,^ and the deification
Egyptians' deification of almost every species ofcoTOand°'
animal ; nay, even in Greece they worship a number wine, and
of deified human beings, Alabandus at Alabanda, °often*liI^re
Tennes at Tenedos, Leucothea, formerly Ino, and her are severai
son Palaemon throughout the whole of Greece, as name).
also Hercules, Aescuiapius, the sons of Tyndareus ;
and with our own people Romulus and many others,
who are beheved to have been admitted to celestial
citizenship in recent times, by a sort of extension of
40 the franchise ! XVI. Well, those are the supersti-
tions of the unlearned ; but what of you philosophers?
how are your dogmas any better ? I pass over the
rest of them, for they are remarkable indeed ! but
take it as true that the world is itself god — for this, I
suppose, is the meaning of the line
Yon dazzling vault of heaven, which all mankind
As Jove invoke.
Why then are we to add a number of other gods as
well ? And what a crowd of them there is ! At least
there seems to me to be a great lot of them ; for you
reckon each of the stars a god, and either call them
by the names of animals such as She-goat, Scorpion,
323
CICERO
ut Taurum ut Leonem, aut rerum inanimarum, ut
41 Argo ut Aram ut Coronam. Sed ut haec concedan-
tur, reliqua qui tandem non modo concedi sed om-
nino intellegi possunt ? Cum fruges Cererem, vinum
Liberum dicimus, genere nos quidem sermonis utimur
usitato, sed ecquem tam amentem esse putas qui
illud quo vescatur deum credat esse ? Nam quos ab
hominibus pervenisse dicis ad deos, tu reddes ratio-
nem quem ad modum id fieri potuerit aut cur.fien
desierit, et ego discam hbenter ; quo modo nunc qui-
dem est, non video quo pacto ille cui * in monte
Oetaeo illatae lampades' fuerint, ut ait Accius,
' in domum aeternam patris ' ex illo ardore per-
venerit ; quem tamen Homerus apud inferos con-
veniri facit ab Uhxe, sicut ceteros qui excesserant
vita.
42 " Quamquam quem potissimum Herculem colamus
scire sane velim ; pluris enim tradunt nobis ii qui
interiores scrutantur et reconditas litteras, antiquissi-
mum love natum sed item love antiquissimo — nam
loves quoque pluris in priscis Graecorum htteris
invenimus : ex eo igitur et Lysithoe est is Hercules
quem concertavisse cum Apohine de tripode accf pi-
mus. Alter traditur Nilo natus Aegyptius, quem
aiunt Phrygias htteras conscripsisse. Tertius est
ex Idaeis Digitis, cui inferias adferunt.^ Quartus
^ adferunt dett. : adferunt qui A, B^ adferunt Coi
Gronovius.
" Od. xi. 600 ff. Our text of Homer adds in 11. 602-604.
that what Odysseus met was a wraith (eiowXoj'), but that
Heracles himself was feasting with the gods and wedded to
Hebe. These lines, however, were obeHzed by Aristarchus
as non-Homeric and inconsistent with the lllad^ which
324
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xvi.
Bull, Lion, or of inanimate things such as the Argo,
41 the Altar, the Crown. But allowing these, how pray
can one possibly, I do not say allow, but make head
or tail of the remainder ? When we speak of corn as
Ceres and wine as Liber, we employ a famihar figure
of speech, but do you suppose that anybody can be
80 insane as to beUeve that the food he eats is a god ?
As for the cases you allege of men who have risen to
the status of divinity, you shall explain, and I shall be
glad to learn, how this apotheosis was possible, or
why it has ceased to take place now. As at present
informed, I do not see how the hero to whose body
On Oeta's mount the torches were applied,
as Accius has it, can have passed froni that burning
pyre to
The everlasting mansions of his Sire — ,
in spite of the fact that Homer ° represents Ulysses as
meeting him. among the rest of those who had de-
parted this hfe, in the world below !
42 " Nevertheless I should Uke to know what par-
ticular Hercules it is that we worship ; for we are
told of several by the students of esoteric and re-
condite writings, the most ancient being the son of
Jupiter, that is of the most ancient Jupiter likewise,
for we find several Jupiters also in the early MTitings
of the Greeks. That Jupiter then and Lysithoe were
the parents of the Hercules who is recorded to have
had a tussle \nth ApoUo about a tripod ! We hear
of another in Egypt, a son of the Nile, who is said to
have compiled the sacred books of Phrygia. A third
comes from the Digiti of Mount Ida, who offer sacri-
speaks of Heracles as killed by the wrath of Hera, and of
Hebe as a virgin.
3^25
CICERO
Io\is est <et>^ Asteriae Latonae sororis, qui Tyri
maxime colitur, cuius Karthaginem filiam ferunt.
Quintus in India qui Belus dicitur. Sextus hic ex
Alcmena quem luppiter genuit, sed tertius luppiter
quoniam ut iam docebo pluris loves etiam accepimus.
43 XVII. " Quando enim me in hunc locum deduxit
oratio, docebo meHora me didicisse de colendis dis
inmortahbus iure pontificio et more maiorum cape-
duncuHs iis quas Numa nobis rehquit, de quibus in
illa aureola oratiuncula dicit Laehus, quam rationibus
Stoicorum. Si enim vos sequar, dic quid ei respon-
deam qui me sic roget : ' Si di sunt,^ suntne etiam
Nymphae deae ? si Nymphae, Panisci etiam et Satjnri ;
hi autem non sunt ; ne Nymphae [deae]' quidem
igitur. At earum templa sunt pubHce vota et
dedicata ; ne ceteri quidem ergo di, quorum templa
sunt dedicata ? Age porro : lovem et Neptunum
deos* numeras ; ergc etiam Orcus frater eorum deus ;
et ilH qui fluere apud inferos dicuntur, Acheron
Cocytus Pyriphlegethon, tum Charon tum Cerberus
44 di putandi. At id quidem repudiandum ; ne Orcus
quidem igitur ; quid dicitis ergo de fratribus ? '
Haec Carneades aiebat, non ut deos toUeret (quid
enim philosopho minus conveniens ?) sed ut Stoicos
* add. Heindorf. * post sunt lacunam signat Mayor,
^ deae om. dett. * deos dett. : deum A^ B.
" The argument goes on at § 53» and perhaps §§ 43-52
should be transposed after § 60 (although the first sentence
of § 43 seems to belong neither here nor there).
* See § 6 n.
S26
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xvi.— xvii.
fices at his toml). A fourtli is the son of Jiipitcr and
Asteria, the sister of Latona ; he is chicfly wor-
shipped at Tyre, and is said to have been the father
of the nymph Carthago. Thcre is a fifth in India,
named Belus. The sixth is our friend the son of
Alcmena, whose male progenitor was Jupiter, that
is Jupiter number three, since, as I will now explain,
tradition tells us of several Jupiters also."
43 XVII. " For as my discourse has led me to this Carneades
topic, I will show that I have learnt more about the pJoved^t^'
proper way of worshipping the gods, according to impossibie
pontifical law and the customs of our ancestors, from a^iinT^
the poor little pots bequeathed to us by Numa, p^*^^^®?
which Laehus discusses m that dear httle gokien and the
speech & of his, than from the theories of the thTnTtural,
Stoics. For if I adopt your doctrines, tell me
what answer I am to make to one who questions
me thus : * If gods exist, are the nymphs also
goddesses ? if the nymphs are, the Pans and Satyrs
also are gods ; but they are not gods ; therefore
the nymphs also are not. Yet they possess
temples vowed and dedicated to them by the nation ;
are the other gods also therefore who have had
temples dedicated to them not gods either ? Come
tell me further : you reckon Jupiter and Neptune
gods, therefore their brother Orcus is also a god ; and
the fabled streams of the lower world, Acheron,
Cocytus and Pyriphlegethon, and also Charon and
44 also Cerberus are to be deemed gods. No, you say,
we must draw the hne at that ; well then, Orcus is
not a god either ; what are you to say about his
brothers then ? ' These arguments were advanced
by Carneades, not w^th the object of estabhshing
atheism (for what could less befit a philosopher }) but
327
CICERO
nihil de dis explicare cominceret ; itaque inseque-
batur : ' Quid enim ? ' aiebat ' si hi fratres sunt in
numero deorum, num de patre eorum Saturno negari
potest, quem volgo maxime colunt ad occidentem ?
Qui si est deus, patrem quoque eius Caelum eise
deum confitendum est. Quod si ita est, CaeU
quoque parentes di habendi sunt, Aether et Dies,
eorumque fratres et sorores, qui a genealogis antiquis
sic nominantur, Amor Dolus Metus^ Labor Invidentia
Fatum Senectus Mors Tenebrae Miseria Querella
Gratia Fraus Pertinacia Parcae Hesperides Somnia,
quos omnis Erebo et Nocte natos ferunt.' Aut
igitur haec monstra probanda sunt aut prima illa
45 tollenda. XVIII. Quid ? Apollinem Volcanum
Mercurium ceteros deos esse dices, de Hercule
Aesculapio Libero Castore Polluce dubitabis ?
At hi quidem coluntur aeque atque iUi, apud quos-
dam etiam multo magis. Ergo hi dei sunt habendi
mortaUbus nati matribus ? Quid ? Aristaeus, qui oUvae
dicitur inventor, ApoUinis fiUus, Theseus Neptuni, re-
Uqui quorum patres di, non erunt in deorum numero ?
Quid quorum matres ? Opinor etiam magis ; ut enim
iure civiU qui est matre Ubera Uber est, item iure
naturae qui dea matre est deus sit necesse est. Ita-
que AchiUem Astypalaeenses insulani sanctissume
colunt ; qui si deus est, et Orpheus et Rhesus di sunt,
* Metus dett. : Morbus dett.^ modus Ay B,
328
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xvii.— xviii.
in order to prove the Stoic thcology worthless ; ae-
cordingly he iised to piirsiie his inquiry thus : ' Well
now,' he would say, * if these brothers are included
among the gods, can we deny the divinity of their
father Saturn, who is held in the highest reverence
by the common people in the west ? And if he is
a god, we must also admit that his father Caelus is a
god. And if so, the parents of Caelus, the Aether
and the Day, must be held to be gods, and their
brothers and sisters, whom the ancient genealogists
name Love, Guile, Fear, Toil, Envy, Fate, Old Age,
Death, Darkness, Misery, Lamentation, Favour,
Fraud, Obstinacy, the Parcae, the Daughters of
Hesperus, the Dreams : all of these are fabled to be
the children of Erebus and Night.' Either therefore
you must accept these monstrosities or you must dis-
45 card the first claimants also. XVIII. Again, if you
call Apollo, Vulcan, Mercury and the rest gods, ^\ill
you have doubts about Hercules, Aesculapius, Liber,
Castor and Pollux ? But these are wwshipped just
as much as those, and indeed in some places very
much more than they. Are we then to deem these
gods, the sons of mortal mothers ? Well then, will
not Aristaeus, the reputed discoverer of the olive,
who was the son of Apollo, Theseus the son of Nep-
tune, and all the other sons of gods, also be reckoned
as gods ? What about the sons of goddesses ? I
think they have an even better claim ; for just as by
the civil law one whose mother is a freewoman is a
freeman, so by the law of nature one whose mother is
a goddess must be a god. And in the island of Asty-
palaea Achilles is most devoutly worshipped by the
inhabitants on these grounds ; but if Achilles is a
god, so are Orpheus and Rhesus, whose mother was a
329
CICERO
Musa matre nati, nisi forte maritumae nuptiae terre-
nis anteponuntur. Si hi di non sunt, quia nusquam
46 coluntur, quo modo illi sunt ? Vide igitur ne virtuti-
bus hominum isti honores habeantur, non immortali-
tatibus ; quod tu quoque, Balbe, visus es dicere. Quo
modo autem potes, si Latonam deam putas, Hecatam
non putare, quae matre Asteria est, sorore Latonae ?
An haec quoque dea est ? vidimus enim eius aras
delubraque in Graecia. Sin haec dea est, cur non
Eumenides ? Quae si deae sunt, quarum et Athenis
fanum est et apud nos, ut ego interpretor, lucus Furi-
nae, Furiae deae sunt, speculatrices credo et vindices
47 facinorum et sceleris. Quodsi tales dei sunt ut rebus
humanis intersint, Natio quoque dea putanda est, cui
cum fana circumimus in agro Ardeati rem divinam
facere solemus; quaequia partusmatronarumtueatur^
a nascentibus Natio nominata est. Ea si dea est, di
omnes ilh qui commemorabantur a te, Honos Fides
Mens Concordia, ergo etiam Spes Moneta omniaque
quae cogitatione nobismet ipsi^ possumus fingere.
Quod si veri simile non est, ne illud quidem est haec
unde fluxerunt. XIX. Quid autem dicis, si di sunt
ilU quos cohmus et accepimus, cm' non eodem in
genere Serapim Isimque numeremus ? quod si
facimus, cur barbarorum deos repudiemus ? Boves
^ tuetur B corr. ^ ipsi Davies : ipsis.
" There was a special worship of Venus at Ardea, an old
Latin city once important but long before Cicero's time
insignificant.
330
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xviii.— xix.
Muse, unless perhaps a marriage at the bottom of the
sea counts higher than a marriage on dry land ! If
these are not gods, because they are nowhere wor-
46 shipped, how can the others be gods ? Is not the
explanation this, that divine honours are paid to
men's virtues, not to their immortahty ? as you too,
Balbus, appeared to indicate. Then, if you think
Latona a goddess, how can you not think that Hecate
is one, who is the daughter of Latona's sister Asteria ?
Is Hecate a goddess too ? we have seen altars and
shrines belonging to her in Greece. But if Hecate is
a goddess, why are not the Eumenides ? and if they
are goddesses, — and they have a temple at Athens,
and the Grove of Furina at Rome, if I interpret that
name aright, also belongs to them, — then the Furies
are goddesses, presumably in their capacity of de-
47 tectors and avengers of crime and wickedness. And
if it is the nature of the gods to intervene in man's
affairs, the Birth-Spirit also must be deemed divine,
to whom it is our custom to offer sacrifice when we
make the round of the shrines in the Territory of
Ardea ** : she is named Natio from the word for being
born (nasci), because she is beUeved to watch over
married women in travail. If she is divine, so are all
those abstractions that you mentioned, Honour,
Faith, Intellect, Concord, and therefore also Faith,
the Spirit of Money and all the possible creations of
our own imagination. If this supposition is unhkely,
so also is the former one, from which all these in-
stances flow. XIX. Then, if the traditional gods
whom we worship are really divlne, what reason can
you give why we should not include Isis and Osiris in
the same category ? And if we do so, why should we
repudiate the gods of the barbarians ? We shall
331
CICERO
igitur et equos, ibis accipitres aspidas crocodilos
pisces canes lupos faelis multas praeterea beluas in
deorum numerum reponemus. Quae si reicimus,*
48 illa quoque unde haec nata sunt reiciemus. Quid
deinde ? Ino dea ducetur et K^vKodka a Graecis a
nobis Matuta dicetur cum sit Cadmi filia, Circe
autem et Pasiphae et Aeeta^ e Perseide Oceani
fiha nati patre Sole in deorum numero non habe-
buntur ? quamquam Circen quoque coloni nostri
Circeienses rehgiose colunt. Ergo hanc deam
duces': quid Medeae respondebis, quae duobus*
avis Sole et Oceano, Aeeta patre matre Idyia pro-
creata est ? quid huius Absyrto fratri (qui est apud
Pacuvium Aegialeus, sed illud nomen veterum htteris
usitatius) ? qui si di non sunt, vereor quid agat
49 Ino ; haec enim omnia ex eodem fonte fluxerunt. An
Amphiaraus erit deus et Trophonius ? Nostri quidem
pubhcani, cum essent agri in Boeotia deorum inmor-
tahum excepti lege censoria, negabant inmortahs esse
uUos qui ahquando homines fuissent. Sed si sunt
hi di, est certe Erechtheus, cuius Athenis et delubrum
vidimus et sacerdotem. Quem si deum facimus, quid
aut de Codro dubitare possumus aut de ceteris qui
pugnantes pro patriae hbertate ceciderunt ? quod si
probabile non est, ne illa quidem superiora unde
eO haec manant probanda sunt. Atque in plerisque
* reicimus Mayor : reiciamus mss.^ reiciemus ? ed,
^ Aeetae Baiter : eae e A^ eae B.
• duces Baiter : ducis, dicis, dices MSS.
* duobus <dis> Alan.
• As weh as Matuta.
332
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xix.
therefore have to admit to the list of gods oxen and
horses, ibises, hawks, asps, crocodiles, fishes, dogs,
wolves, cats and many beasts besides. Or if we reject
these, we shall also reject those others from whom
48 their claim springs. What next ? If Ino is to be
deemed divine, under the title of Leucothea in Greece
and Matuta at Rome, because she is the daughter
of Cadmus, are Circe and Pasiphae and Aeetes, the
children of Perseis the daughter of Oceanus by the
Sun, to be not counted in the hst of gods ? in spite of
the fact that Circe too° is devoutly worshipped at the
Roman colony of Circei. If you therefore deem her
divine, what answer will you give to Medea, who, as
her father was Aeetes and her mother Idyia, had as
her two grandfathers the Sun and Oceanus ? or
to her brother Absyrtus (who appears in Pacuvius
as Aegialeus, though the former name is commoner
in ancient hterature) ? if these are not divine, I
have my fears as to what will become of Ino, for tlie
claims of all of them derive from the same source.
49 Or if we allow Ino, are we going to make Amphiaraus
and Trophonius divine ? The Roman tax-farmers,
fmding that lands in Boeotia belonging to the im-
mortal gods were exempted by the censor's regula-
tions, used to maintain that nobody was immortal
who had once upon a time been a human being. But
if these are divine, so undoubtedly is Erechtheus,
whose shrine and whose priest also we saw when at
Athens. And if we make him out to be divine, what
doubts can we feel about Codrus or any other persons
who fell fighting for their country's freedom ? if we
stick at this, we must reject the earher cases too,
50 from which these follow. Also it is easy to see that
in most states the memory of brave men has been
333
CICERO
civitatibus intellegi potest augendae virtutis gratia,
quo^ libentius rei publicae causa periculum adiret
optimus quisque, virorum fortium memoriam honore
deorum immortalium consecratam. Ob eam enim
ipsam causam Erechtheus Athenis fihaeque eius in
numero deorum sunt ; item.que Leonaticum est
delubrum Athenis, quod AeioKopioi nominatur. Ala-
bandenses quidem sanctius Alabandum colunt, a quo
est urbs illa condita, quam quemquam nobihum
deorum ; apud quos non inurbane Stratonicus ut
multa, cum quidam ei molestus Alabandum deum
esse confirmaret, Herculem negaret, ' Ergo ' inquit
61 ' mihi Alabandus tibi Hercules sit iratus.' XX.
Illa autem, Balbe, quae tu a caelo astrisque ducebas,
quam longe serpant non vides ? Solem deum esse
lunamque, quorum alterum ApoUinem Graeci
alteram Dianam putant. Quodsi Luna dea est,
ergo etiam Lucifer ceteraeque errantes numerum
deorum obtinebunt ; igitur etiam inerrantes. Cur
autem Arqui species non in deorum numero re-
ponatur ? est enim pulcher, et ob eam causam quia
speciem habeat^ admirabilem Thaumante dicitur
<Iris>^ esse nata. Cuius si di\ina natura est, quid
facies nubibus ? Arcus enim ipse e nubibus efficitur
quodam modo coloratis ; quarum una etiam Cen-
tauros peperisse dicitur. Quodsi nubes rettuleris in
deos, referendae certe erunt tempestates, quae popuh
Romani ritibus consecratae sunt. Ergo imbres
nimbi procellae turbines dei putandi. Nostri qui-
^ <aut> quo Lactantius.
2 habet dett. * add. Antonius Augustinus.
" Editors suspect this unknown name : Cicero can hardly
have coined it to translate the Greek.
334
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xix.— xx.
sanctified with divine honours for the purpose of
promoting valour, to make the bcst men more wilHng
to encounter danger for their country's sake. This
is the reason ^vhy Erechtheus and his daughters have
been deified at Athens, and hkewise there is the
Leonatic " shrine at Athens, which is named Leo-
corion. The people of Alabanda indeed worship
Alabandus, the founder of that city, more devoutly
than any of the famous deities. And it was there that
Stratonicus uttered one of his many witty sayings ;
some person obnoxious to him swore that Alabandus
was divine and Hercules was not : ' Well and good,'
said Stratonicus, ' let the wrath of Alabandus fall on
51 me and that of Hercules on you.' XX. As for your
deriving rehgion from the sky and stars, do you not
see what a long way this takes you ? You say that
the sun and moon are deities, and the Greeks identify
the former with Apollo and the latter with Diana.
But if the Moon is a goddess, then Lucifer also
and the rest of the planets will have to be counted
gods ; and if so, then the fixed stars as well. But
why should not the glorious Rainbow be included
among the gods ? it is beautiful enough, and its mar-
vellous lovehness has given rise to the legend that
Iris is the daughter of Thaumas.^ And if the rainbow
is a divinity, what will you do about the clouds ? The
rainbow itself is caused by some coloration of the
clouds ; and also a cloud is fabled to have given birth
to the Centaurs. But if you enroll the clouds among
the gods, you will undoubtedly have to enroll the
seasons, which have been deified in the national
ritual of Rome. If so, then rain and tempest, storm
and whirlwind must be deemed divine. At any rate
* From davfjia^ wonder.
335
CICERO
dem duces mare ingredientes inmolare hostiam
62 fluctibus consuerunt. lam si est Ceres a gerendo
(ita enim dicebas), terra ipsa dea est (et ita habetur ;
quae est enim alia Tellus ?) Sin terra, mare etiam,
quem Neptunum esse dicebas ; ergo et flumina et
fontes. Itaque et Fontis delubrum Maso ex Corsica
dedicavit, et in augurum precatione Tiberinum
Spinonem Almonem Nodinum alia propinquorum
fluminum nomina videmus. Ergo hoc aut in inmen-
sum serpet, aut nihil horum recipiemus ; nec illa
infinita ratio superstitionis probabitur ; nihil ergo
horum probandum est.
63 XXI. " Dicamus igitur, Balbe, oportet contra illos
etiam qui hos deos ex hominum genere in caelum
translatos non re sed opinione esse dicunt, quos
auguste omnes sancteque veneramur. . . . Principio
loves tres numerant ii qui theologi nominantur,
ex quibus primum et secundum natos in Arcadia,
^alte^im patre Aethere, ex quo etiam Proserpinam
natam ferunt et Liberum, alterum patre Caelo,
qui genuisse Minervam dicitur, quam principem et
inventricem belli ferunt, tertium Cretensem Saturni
filium, cuius in illa insula sepulcrum ostenditur.
ALocTKovpoL etiam apud Graios multis modis nomi-
nantur : primi tres, qui appellantur Anaces^ Athenis,
ex rege love antiquissimo et Proserpina nati, Trito-
* Anaces Marsus : Anaktes.
« Cf. ii. 67. " Cf. ii. QQ.
" §§ 53-60 Mayor transposes to the end of § 42, thus
supplying a reference for the words ' these gods ' in the
second line. But the topic of the first sentence is nowhere
pursued, and perhaps it should be kept where it stands,
with a mark indicating the loss of a passage that it intro-
duced, and the rest of §§ 53-60 transferred to § 42.
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xx.— xxi.
it has been the custom of our generals when embark-
ing on a sea-voyage to sacrifice a victim to the waves.
62 Again, if the name of Ceres is derived from her
bearing fruit, as you said," the earth itself is a goddess
(and so she is beheved to be, for she is the same as the
deity Tellus). But if the earth is divine, so also is
the sea, which you identified with Neptune ^ ; and
therefore the rivers and springs too. This is borne
out by the facts that Maso dedicated a Temple of
Fons out of his Corsican spoils, and that the Augurs'
litany includes as we may see the names of Tiberinus,
Spino, Almo, Nodinus, and other rivers in the neigh-
bourhood of Rome. Either therefore this process
wuU go on indefinitely, or we shall admit none of
these ; and this unhmited claim of superstition will
not be accepted ; therefore none of these is to be
accepted.
63 XXI. " Accordingly^^^Balbus^wealsoought torefute Refutation
the theory that these gods, who are deified human theory that
beings, and who are the objects of our most devout deified
and universal veneration, exist not in reaUty but in beings exist
imagination. . . In the first place, the so-called theo- Jhou^St.
logians enumerate threeJupiters, of whom the first Listof
and second were born, they say, in Arcadia, the father ^^^^g ^^^^
of one being Aethfir, who is also fabled to be the shared by
progenitor of Proserpine and Liber, and of the other fndi^vkiuais.
Caelus, and this one is said to have begotten Minerva,
the fabled patroness and originator of warfare ; the
third is the Cretan Jove, son of Saturp ; his tomb
is shown in that island. The Dioscuri also have a
number of titles in Greece. The first set, called Anaces
at Athens, the sons of the very ancient King Jupiter
and Proserpine, are Tritopatreus, Eubuleiis and
837
CICERO
patreus Eubuleus Dionysus, secundi love tertio nati
et Leda Castor et Pollux, tertii dicuntur a non nullis
Alco et Melampus et Tmolus, Atrei filii, qui Pelope
54 natus fuit. lam Musae primae quattuor love altero
natae, Thelxinoe Aoede Arche Melete, secundae
love tertio et Mnemosyne procreatae novem, tertiae
Piero natae et Antiopa, quas Pieridas et Pierias
solent poetae appellare, isdem nominibus et eodem
numero quo proximae superiores. Cumque tu Solem
quia solus esset appellatum esse dicas, Soles ipsi
quam multi a theologis proferuntur. Unus eorum
love natus nepos Aetheris, alter Hyperione, tertius
Volcano NiU fiHo, cuius urbem Aegyptii volunt esse
eam quae HehopoHs appellatur, quartus is quem
heroicis temporibus Acantho Rhodi peperisse dicitur,
<pater>* lalysi Camiri Lindi Rhodi, quintus qui
Colchis fertur Aeetam et Circam procreavisse.
65 XXII. Volcani item complures : primus Caelo natus,
ex quo et Minerva Apolhnem eum' cuius in tutela
Athenas antiqui historici esse voluerunt, secundus
Nilo natus, Phthas* ut Aegyptii appellant, quem
custodem esse Aegypti volunt, tertius ex tertio love
et lunone, qui Lemni fabricae traditur praefuisse,
quartus Memaho natus, qui tenuit insulas propter
66 Siciham quae Volcaniae nominabantur. Mercurius
unus Caelo patre Die matre natus, cuius obscenius
^ add. Davies. ^ Aponinum is Davies,
^ Phthas Gyraldus i Opas.
» See ii. 68.
* i.e., volcanic : the Lipari are meant.
S38
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xxi.— xxii.
Dionysus. The second set, the sons of the third Jove
and Leda, are Castor and Pollux. The third are
named by some people Alco, Melampus and Tmolus,
64 and are the sons of Atreus tlie son of Pelops. Again,
the first set of MliSfiS are four, the daughters of the
second Jupiter, Thelxinoe, Aoede, Arche and Melete ;
the second set are the ofFspring of the third Jupiter
and Mnemosyne, nine in number ; the third set are
the daughters of Pierus and Antiope, and are usually
called by the poets the Pierides or Pierian Maidens ;
they are the same in number and have the same names
as the next preceding set. The sun's name Sol you
derive " from his being sole of his kind, but tKe theo-
logians produce a number even of Suns ! One is the
^ son of Jove and grandson of Aether ;/%nQth&r the
son of Hyperion ; the thirdjpf Vulcan the son of Nile,
— this is the one -svho the Egyptians say is lord of the
city named Heliopolis ^the fourth is the one to whom
Acanthe is said to have given birth at Rhodes in
the heroic age, the father of lalysus, Camirus, Lindus
and Rhodus ; the fifth is the one said to have be-
56 gotten Aeetes and Circe at Colchi. XXII. There are
also severarVulcans ; the first, the son of the Sky,
was reputed the father by Minerva of the Apollo
said by the ancient historians to be the tutelary deity
of Athens ; the second, the son of Nile, is named by
the Egyptians Phthas, and is deemed the guardian of
Egypt ; the third is the son of the third Jupiter and
of Juno, and is fabled to have been the master of a
smithy at Lemnos ; the fourth is the son of Memahus,
and lord of the islands near Sicily which used to be ^ 't
66 named the Isles of Vulcan.^ One Mercury has the f^.-s/^^^J
Sky for father and the Day for mother ; he is repre- ^
sented in a state of sexual excitation traditionally
339
CICERO
excitata natura traditur quod aspectu Proserpinae
commotus sit, alter Valentis et Phoronidis^ filius is
qui sub terris habetur idem Trophonius, tertius love
tertio natus et Maia, ex quo et Penelopa Pananatum
ferunt, quartus Nilo patre, quem Aegyptii nefas
habent nominare, quintus quem colunt Pheneatae,
qui Argum dicitur interemisse ob eamque causam
Aegyptum profugisse atque Aegyptiis leges et litteras
tradidisse : hunc Aegyptii Theuth^ appellant,
eodemque nomine anni primus mensis apud eos
67 vocatur. Aesculapiorum primus Apolhnis, quem
Arcades colunt, qui specillum invenisse primusque
vohius dicitur obhga\dsse, secundus secundi Mercurii
frater : is fulmine percussus dicitur humatus esse
Cynosuris ; tertius Arsippi et Arsinoae, qui primus
purgationem alvi dentisque evolsionem ut ferunt
invenit, cuius in Arcadia non longe a Lusio flumine
sepulcrum et lucus ostenditur. XXIII. Apollinum
antiquissimus is quem paulo antea^ e Vulcano natum
esse dixi custodem Athenarum, alter Corybantis
fihus natus in Creta, cuius de illa insula cum love
ipso certamen fuisse traditur, tertius love tertio
natus etLatona, quem ex Hyperboreis Delphos ferunt
advenisse, quartus in Arcadia, quem Arcades No/xtov*
appellant quod ab eo se leges ferunt accepisse.
58 Dianae item plures : prima lovis et Proserpinae,
* Coronidis Daviea. ^ Theuth Baiter : Theyn.
• ante ci, Plasberg, * 'Nd/uoy Huet : nomionem.
340
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xxii.— xxiii.
said to be due to passion inspired by the sight of
Proserpine. Another is the son of Valens and
Phoronis ; this is the subterranean Mercury identi-
fied with Trophonius. The third, the son of the
third Jove and of Maia, the legends make the father
of Pan by Penelope. The fourth has Nile for father ;
the Egyptians deem it sinful to pronounce his name.
The fifth, worshipped by the people of Pheneus, is
said to have killed Argus and consequently to have
fled in exile to Egypt, where he gave the Egyptians
their laws and letters. His Egyptian name is Theuth,
which is also the name in the Egyptian calendar for
67 the first month of the year. Of the various ^esculapii
the first is the son of Apollo, and is worshipped by the
Arcadians ; he is reputed to have invented the probe
and to have been the first surgeon to employ spHnts.
The second is the brother of the second ^lercury ; he
is said to have been struck by lightning and buried at
Cynosura. The third is the son of Arsippus and
Arsinoe, and is said to have first invented the use of
purges and the extraction of teeth ; his tomb and
grove are shown in Arcadia, not far from the river
Lusius. XXIII. The most ancient of th e Apollo sJs
th e one whom I stated just before to be the son of
Vulcan and the guardian of Athens. The s econd is
the son of Corybas, and was born in Crete ; tradition
says that he fought with Jupiter himself for the
possession of that island. Th e third is the son of the
third Jupiter and of Latona, and is reputed to have
come to Delphi from the Hyperboreans. The fourt h
belongs to Arcadia, and is called by the Arcadians
58 No?nios, as being their traditional lawgiver. Like-
wise there are several Dianas. The first, daughter of ^^
Jupiter and Proserpine, is said to have given birth to
341
CICERO
quae pinnatum Cupidinem genuisse dicitur ; secunda
notior, quam love tertio et Latona natam accepl-
mus ; tertiae pater Upis traditur Glauce mater :
eam saepe Graeci Upim paterno nomine appellant.
Dionysos multos habemus: primum love et Proserpina
natum, secundum Nilo, qui Nysam dicitur inter-
emisse, tertium Cabiro patre, eumque regem Asiae
praefuisse dicunt, cui Sabazia sunt instituta, quartum
love et Luna, cui sacra Orphica putantur confici,
quintum Niso natum et Thyone, a quo Trieterides
69 constitutae putantur. Venus prima Caelo et Die
nata, cuius Ehde delubrum vidimus, altera spuma
procreata, ex qua et Mercurio Cupidinem secundum
natum accepimus, tertia love nata et Diona, quae
nupsit Volcano, sed ex ea et Marte natus Anteros
dicitur, quarta Syria Cyproque concepta,^ quae Astarte
vocatur, quam Adonidi nupsisse proditum est. Mi-
nerva prima, quam Apolhnis matrem supra diximus,
secunda orta Nilo, quam Aegyptii Saitae colunt,
tertia illa quam a love generatam supra diximus,
quarta love nata et Coryphe Oceani fiha, quam Ar-
cades KopLav nominant et quadrigarum inventricem
ferunt, quinta Pallantis, quae patrem dicitur inter-
emisse virginitatem suam violare conantem, cui pin-
60 narum talaria adfigunt. Cupido primus Mercurio et
' a Syria Cyproque accepta ? Mayor.
" Perhaps the Latin should be altered to give ' we
obtained from Syria and Cyprus.'
342
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xxiii.
the ^\inged Cupid. The second is more celebrated ;
tradition makes her the daughter of the third Jupiter
and of Latona. The father of the third is recorded to
have been Upis, and her mother Glauce ; the Greeks
often call her by her father's name of Upis. We have
a number o f Dionysi. The.£rst_is the son of Jupiter 5 Z^'
and Proserpine ; tnesecond. of Xile — he is the fabled
slayer of Nysa. The father of the third is Cabirus ;
it is stated that he was king over Asia, and the
Sabazia were instituted in his honour. The fourth .
is the son of Jupiter and Luna ; the Orphic rites are
beheved to be celebrated in his honour. The ,:fifth is
the son of Nisus and Thyone, and is beheved to have
59 cstabUshed the Trieterid festival. The first Venus is
the daughter of the Sky and the Day ; I have seen
her temple at EHs. The second was engendered from
the sea-foam, and as we are told became the mother
by Mercury of the second Cupid. The third is the
daughter of Jupiter and Dione, who wedded Vulcan,
but who is said to have been the mother of Anteros by
Mars. The fourth was conceived of Syria and Cyprus,"
and is called Astarte ; it is recorded that she married .
Adonis. The first Minerva is the one whom we men- -«s, P^'^^^
tioned above as the mother of Apollo. The second
sprang from the Nile, and is worshipped by the
Egyptians of Sais. The third is she whom we men-
tioned above as begotten by Jupiter. The fourth is
the daughter of Jupiter and Coryphe the daughter of
Oceanus, and is called Koria by the Arcadians, who
say that she was the inventor of the four-horsed
chariot. The fifth is Pallas, who is said to have slain
her father when he attempted to violate her maiden-
hood ; she is represented with wings attached to her
60 ankles. The first Cupid is said to be the son of Mer-
CICERO
Diana prima natus dicitur, secundus Mercurio et
Venere secunda, tertius qui idem est Anteros Marte
et Venere tertia. Atque haec quidem aliaque eius
modi ex vetere Graeciae fama collecta sunt, quibus
intellegis resistendum esse ne perturbentur reli-
giones ; vestri autem non modo haec non refellunt
verum etiam confirmant interpretando quorsum
quidque pertineat. Sed eo iam unde huc digressi
sumus revertamur.
6i XXI\\ ** . . . Num censes igitur subtiliore ratione
opus esse ad haec refellenda } Nam mentem fidem
spem virtutem honorem victoriam salutem concordiam
ceteraque eius modi rerum vim habere videmus, non
deorum. Aut enim in nobismet insunt ipsis, ut mens
ut spes ut fides ut virtus ut concordia, aut optandae
nobis sunt, ut honos ut salus ut victoria ; quarum
rerum utihtatem video, video etiam consecrata
simulacra, quare autem in iis vis deorum insit tum
intellegam cum^ cognovero. Quo in genere vel
maxime est Fortuna numeranda, quam nemo ab
inconstantia et temeritate seiunget, quae digna certe
non sunt deo.
62 " lam vero quid vos illa delectat explicatio fabula-
rum et enodatio nominum .'' Exsectum a fiho Caelum,
vinctum itidem a fiho Saturnum, haec et aha generis
eius('em ita defenditis ut ii qui ista finxerunt non
^ cum <ex te> Bouhier.
<» See note on § 53. The introduction of the next topio
seems to have been lost.
3i4
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xxiii.— xxiv.
cury and the first Diana, the second of Mercury and
the second Venus, and the third, who is the same as
Anteros, of Mars and the third Venus.
" These and other similar fables have been cuUed
from the ancient traditions of Greece ; you are aware
that we ought to combat tliem, so that reHgion may
not be undermined. Your school however not merely
do not refute them, but actually confirm them by
interpreting their respective meanings. But let us
now return to the point from which we digressed to
this topic.
61 XXIV. "'* ... Do you then think that any more For the
subtle argument is needed to refute these notions ? demed ab-
Intelligence, faith, hope, virtue, honour, victory, ■^tractions
safety, concord and the other things of this nature and^so^"'^ '
are obviously abstractions, not personal deities. ^[fe^oriza
For they are either properties inherent in ourselves, tions and
for instance intelhgence, hope, faith, virtue, concord, etym'c>'^
or objects of our desire, for instance honour, safety, logiis.
victory. I see that they have value, and I am also
aware that statues are dedicated to them ; but why
they should be held to possess divinity is a thing that
I cannot understand without further enhghtenment.
Fortune has a very strong claim to be counted in this
list, and nobody will dissociate fortune from incon-
stancy and haphazard action, which are certainly
unworthy of a deity.
62 " Again, why are you so fond of those allegorizing
and etymological methods of explaining the mytho-
logy .'' The mutilation of Caelus by his son, and like-
wise the imprisonment of Saturn by his, these and
similar figments you rationalize so effectively as to
345
CICERO
modo non insani sed etiam fuisse sapientes videantur.
In enodandis autem nominibus quod miserandum sit
iaboratis : * Saturnus quia se saturat annis, Mavors
quia magna vertit, Minerva quia minuit aut quia
minatur, Venus quia venit ad omnia, Ceres a gerendo.'
Quam periculosa consuetudo ; in multis enim nomini-
bus haerebitis : quid Veiovi facies, quid Volcano ?
quamquam quoniam Neptunum a nando appellatum
putas, nullum erit nomen quod non possis una littera
explicare unde ductum sit ; in quo quidem magis tu
63 mihi natare visus es quam ipse Neptunus. Magnam
molestiam suscepit et minime necessariam primus
Zeno post Cleanthes deinde Chrysippus, commenti-
ciarum fabularum reddere rationem, vocabulorum^
cur quidque ita appellatum sit causas expUcare.
Quod cum facitis, illud profecto confitemini, longe
aUter se rem habere atque hominum opinio sit ; eos
enim qui di appellantur rerum naturas esse non
figuras deorum. XXV. Qui tantus error fuit ut
perniciosis etiam rebus non modo nomen deorum
tribueretur sed etiam sacra constituerentur ; Febris
enim fanum in Palatio et <Orbonae ad>^ aedem
Larum et aram Malae Fortunae EsquiUis consecra-
64 tam videmus. Omnis igitur tahs a philosophia
pellatur error ut cum de dis inmortahbus disputemus
dicamus indigna^ dis immortaUbus ; de quibus habeo
ipse quod* sentiam, non habeo autem quod* tibi
adsentiar. Neptunum esse dicis animum cum intelle-
^ vocabulorumque dett.
2 add, ed. Bononiensis 1494.
■ indigna det. : digna B^ cett. valde corrupti.
■«quod . . . quod Ernesti : quid . . . quid.
" For this and the foUowing etymologies see ii. 64-67.
^ Or perhaps " tind out the derivation by the hght of one
letter.'
846
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xxiv.— xxv.
make out their authors to have been not only not
idiots, but actually philosophers. But as for your
strained etymologies, one can only pity your mis-
placed ingenuity ! Saturnus is so called because he
is ' sated with years,' ° Mavors because he ' subverts
the great,' Minerva because she ' minishes,' or be-
cause she is * minatory,' Venus because she ' visits '
all things, Ceres from gero ' to bear.' What a dan-
gerous practice ! with a great many names you will
be in difficulties. What will you make of Vejovis, or
Vulcan ? though since you think the name Neptune
comes from nare ' to swim,' there will be no name of
whichyou couldnot make the derivation clearby alter-
ing one letter ^ : in this matter you seem to me to be
63 more at sea than Neptune himself ! A great deal of
quite unnecessary trouble was taken first by Zeno, then
by Cleanthes and lastly by Chrysippus, to rationaUze
these purely fanciful myths and explain the reasons
for the names by which the various deities are called.
But in so doing you clearly admit that the facts are
widely different from men's beUef, since the so-called
gods are really properties of things, not divine persons
at all. XXV. So far did this sort of error go, that
even harmful things were not only given the names
of gods but actually had forms of worship instituted
in their honour : witness the temple to Fever on the
Palatine, that of Orbona the goddess of bereavement
close to the shrine of the Lares, and the altar conse-
64 crated to Misfortune on the Esquiline. Let us there-
fore banish from philosophy entirely the error of
making assertions in discussing the immortal gods
that are derogatory to their dignity : a subject on
which I know what views to hold myself, but do not
know how to agree to your views. You say that Nep-
S47
CICERO
gentia per mare pertinentem, idem de Cerere ;
istam autem intellegentiam aut maris aut terrae
non modo comprehendere animo sed ne suspicione
quidem possum attingere. Itaque aliunde mihi
quaerendum est ut et esse deos et quales sint di
discere possim ; quahs tu eos esse vis <vide ne esse
65 non possint. Nunc^ videamus ea quae sequuntur,
primum deorum<ne> providentia mundus regatur,
deinde consulantne di rebus humanis. Haec enim
mihi ex tua partitione restant duo ; de quibus si
vobis videtur accuratius disserendum puto."
" Mihi vero " inquit Velleius " valde videtur ; nam
et maiora exspecto et iis quae dicta sunt vehementer
adsentior."
Tum Balbus " Interpellare te " inquit " Cotta,
nolo, sed sumemus tempus ahud ; efficiam profecto
ut fateare. Sed . . .
nequaquam istuc istac ibit ; magna inest certatio.
nam ut ego illi supplicarem tanta blandiloquentia,
ni ob rem ^ —
66 XXVI. Parumne ratiocinari videtur et sibi ipsa
nefariam pestem machinari ? IUud vero quam calhda
ratione :
qui volt^ quod volt, ita dat se res ut operam dabit —
^ supplet Plasherg.
• ni ob rem Vahlen : niobem. ' volt esse dett.
<» A considerable passage hias been lost, part of it being
according to Plasberg thefragments preserved by Lactantius ;
see p. 384-.
* These verses are from the Medea of Ennius, and corre-
spond to Euripides, Medea 365 ff.
S4.8
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xxv.— xxvi.
tune is the rational soul that pervades the sea ; and
similarly for Ceres ; but your notion of the sea or the
land possessing a rational intelligence is not merely
something that I cannot fully understand, but I have
not the shghtest inkhng what it means. Accordingly
I must seek elsewhere for instruction both as to the
existence and as to the nature of the gods ; as for
your account of them <perhaps it may be impossible.
65 Now> let us consider the next topics — first whether m. Provi.
the world is ruled by divine providence. and then ^*^"tiai
whether the gods have regard for the affairs of man- of the
kind. For these are the two that I have left of the "§"55^^
heads into which you divided the subject ; and if you
gentlemen approve, I feel that they require a some-
what detailed discussion."
" For my part," said Velleius, " I approve entirely,
for I anticipate something more important still to
come, and I also strongly agree ^vith what has been
said ah'eady."
" I do not want to interrupt you with questions,"
added Balbus, " we vWll take another time for that :
I warrant I will bring you to agree. But . , . "
Nay, 'twill not be ; a struggle is in store, £V. Provi-
What, should I fawn on him and speak him fair, dential care
Save for my purpose — ** forman(§65
^ ^ ^ toend).
66 XXVI. Is there any lack of reasoning here, think you, '^^^^, §^'^ °'
and is she not plotting dire disaster for herself ? injury
Again, how cleverly reasoned is the saying : rbenefltl'^"
For him that wills that which he wills, the event from'^^^
Shall be as he shall make it ! * tragedy.
• ' Where there's a will there's a way.' The quotation is
assigned to Ennius.
N S49
CICERO
qui est versus omnium seminator malorum.
ille traversa mente mi hodie tradidit repagula
quibus ego iram omnem recludam atque illi perniciem dabo,
mihi maerores illi luctum, exitium illi exilium mihi.
Hanc videlicet rationem, quam vos divino beneficio
homini solum tributam dicitis, bestiae non habent ;
67 videsne igitur quanto munere deorum simus adfecti ?
Atque eadem Medea patrem patriamque fugiens,
postquam pater
adpropinquat iamque paene ut conprehendatur parat,
puerum interea obtruncat membraque articulatim dividit
perque agros passim dispergit corpus : id ea gratia
ut, dum nati dissipatos artus captaret parens,
ipsa interea effugeret, illum ut maeror tardaret sequi,
sibi salutem ut familiari pareret parricidio.
68 Huic ut scelus sic ne ratio quidem defuit. Quid ?
ille funestas epulas fratri conparans nonne versat huc
et illuc cogitatione rationem ?
maior mihi moles, maius miscendumst malum,
qui illius acerbum cor contundam et conprimam.
XXVII. Nec tamen ille ipse est praetereundus
qui non sat habuit coniugem inlexe in stuprum,
de quo recte et verissume loquitur Atreus :
*• Again from the Medea of Ennius ; ef. Eur. Med. 371 f.,
394 ff.
" Possibly from the Medea of Accius, cf. ii. 89. This part
of the story is not in Euripides.
*■ This and the three following quotations are from the
Atreus of Acciiis. Atreus deliberates how to take vengeance
on his brother Thyestes for seducing his wife Aerope.
350
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xxvi.— xxvii.
Yet this verse contains the seeds of every kind of
mischief.
He with misguided mind
This day hath put the keys into my hand
Wherewith I will unlock my utmost wrath
And work his ruin ; grief shall be my portion
And sorrow his ; mine exile, his extinction.*
This gift of reason forsooth, which according to your
school divine beneficence has bestowed on man alone,
67 the beasts do not possess ; do you see then how great
a boon the gods have vouchsafed to us ? And Medea
hke^\ise, when flying from her father and her father-
land,
when her sire drew near,
And now was all but in the act to seize her,
Her boy she did behead, and joint by joint
Severed his Hmbs, and all about the fields
His body strewed : the same with this intent,
That, while her father strove to gather up
Her son's dismember'd members, in the meantime
She might herself escape, so that his grief
Should hinder his pursuit, and she win safety
By most unnatural murder of her kin.*
68 Medea was criminal, but also she was perfectly
rational. Again, does not the hero plotting the
direful banquet for his brother turn the design this
way and that in his thoughts ?
More must I moil and bigger bale must brew,
Whereby to quell and crush his cruel heart.*
XXVII. Nor must we pass over Thyestes himself, who
Was not content to tempt my wife to sin —
an offence of which Atreus speaks correctly and ^ith
perfect truth —
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CICERO
, . . quod re in summa summum esse arbitror
periclum, matres coinquinari regias,
contaminari stirpem ac misceri^ genus.
At id ipsum quam callide, qui regnum adulterio
quaereret :
adde^ (inquit) huc, quod mihi portento caelestum pater
prodigium misit, regni stabilimen mei,
agnum inter pecudes aurea clarum coma
quondam Thyestem clepere ausum esse e regia,
qua in re adiutricem coniugem cepit sibi.
69 Videtume summa inprobitate usus non sine summa
esse ratione ? Nec vero scaena solum referta est his
sceleribus, sed multo* vita communis paene maioribus.
Sentit domus unius cuiusque, sentit forum, sentit
curia campus socii provinciae, ut quem ad modum
ratione recte fiat sic ratione peccetur, alterumque
et a paucis et raro, alterum et saepe et a plurimis,
ut satius fuerit nullam omnino nobis a dis in-
mortalibus datam esse rationem quam tanta cum
pernicie datam. Ut vinum aegrotis, quia prodest
raro nocet saepissime, melius est non adhibere om-
nino quam spe dubiae salutis in apertam perniciem
incurrere, sic haud scio an mehus fuerit humano
generi motum istum celerem cogitationis, acumen,
sollertiam^ quam rationem vocamus, quoniam pesti-
fera est multis, admodum paucis salutaris, non dari
* ac misceri Ribheck : admisceri.
* adde Scriverius : addo.
• multo <magis> ? Mayor,
852
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xxvii.
the which I deem the heiprht of peril
In matters of high state, if royal mothers
Shall be debauched, the royal blood corrupted,
The hneage mixed.
But how craftily this very crime is plotted by his
brother, employing adultery as a means to gain tlie
throne :
Thereto withal (says Atreus) the heavenly sire did send nie
A warning portent, to confirm my reign —
A lamb, con?;picuous among the flock
With fleece of gold, Thyestes once did dare
To steal from out my palace, and in this deed
My consort did suborn as his accompHce.
69 Do you see that Thyestes, while acting with extreme
wickedness, displayed complete rationality as M-ell ?
And not only does the stage teem with crimes of this
sort, but ordinary life even more so, and with almost
worse crimes. Our private homes ; the law-courts,
the senate, the hustings ; our allies, our provinces —
all have cause to know that just as right actions may
be guided by reason, so also may wrong ones, and
that whereas few men do the former, and on rare
occasions, so very many do the latter, and frequently ;
so that it would have been better if the immortal gods
had not bestowed upon us any reasoning faculty at
all than that they should have bestowed it with such
mischievous results. Wine is seldom beneficial and
very often harmful to the sick, and therefore it is
better not to give it to them at all than to run a
certain risk of injury in the doubtful hope of a cure ;
similarly it would perhaps have been better if that
nimbleness and penetration and cleverness of thought
which we term * reason,' being as it is disastrous to
many and wholesome to but few, had never been given
to thc human race at all, than that it should have been
352
CICERO
70 omnino quam tam munitice et tam large dari. Quam
ob rem si mens voluntasque divina idcirco consuluit
hominibus quod iis est largita rationem, iis solis con-
suluit quos bona ratione donavit, quos videmus si
modo uUi sunt esse perpaucos. Non placet autem
paucis a dis inmortalibus esse consultum ; sequitur
erffo ut nemini consultum sit.
o
XXVIII. " Huic loco sic soletis occurrere : non
idcirco non optume nobis a dis esse provisum quod
multi eorum beneficio perverse uterentur ; etiam
patrimoniis multos male uti, nec ob eam causam eos
beneficium a patribus nullum habere. Quisquamne
Istuc negat ? aut quae est in coUatione ista simiUtudo ?
Nec enim Herculi nocere Deianira voluit cum ei
tunicam sanguine Centauri tinctam dedit, nec
prodesse Pheraeo lasoni is qui gladio vomicam eius
aperuit quam sanare medici non potuerant. Multi
enim et cum obesse vellent profuerunt et cum pro-
desse obfuerunt ; ita non fit ex eo quod datur ut
voluntas eius qui dederit appareat, nec si is qui
accepit bene utitur, idcirco is qui dedit amice dedit.
71 Quae enim libido quae avaritia quod facinus aut
suscipitur nisi consilio capto aut sine animi motu et
cogitatione, id est ratione, perficitur ? Nam omnis
opinio ratio est, et quidem bona ratio si vera, mala
autem si falsa est opinio. Sed a deo tantum ratio-
nem habemus, si modo habemus, bonam autem
" Pliny, N.H. vii. 51, implies that this was a wound
inflictcd hy an enemy in battlc : Seneca, Benef. ii. 18. 8,
seems to spcak of the attempt of an assassin.
354
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xxvii.— xxviii.
70 given in such bounteous abundance. If therefore the Oniy the
divine intelhgence and will displayed care for men's usa^o?"^
^\ elfare because it bestowed upon them reason, it reason is
cared for the welfare of those only to whom it gave and^hat '
virtuous reason, whom we see to be very few, if not dependson
, - . __. , •' ' ourselves.
entirely non-existent. \V e cannot, nowever, suppose
that the immortal gods have cared for only a few ;
it follows therefore that they have cared for none.
XXVIII. " This line of argument is usually met by
your school thus : it does not follow, you say, that
the gods have not made the best provision for us
because many men employ their bounty \^Tongly ;
many men make bad use of their inheritances, but
this does not prove that they have received no benefit
from their fathers. Does anybody deny this ? and
where is the analogy in your comparison ? When
Deianira gave Hercules the shirt soaked in the
Centaur's blood, she did not intend to injure him.
When the soldier with a stroke of his sword opened
Jason of Pherae's tumour which the physicians had
failed to cure, he did not intend to do him good.**
Plenty of people have done good when they intended
to do harm and harm when they intended to do good.
The nature of the gift does not disclose the will of the
giver, and the fact that the recipient makes good use
of it does not prove that the giver gave it with friendly
71 intentions. Is there a single act of lust, of avarice
or of crime, which is not entered on dehberately or
which is not carried out with active exercise of
thought, that is, by aid of the reason ? inasmuch as
every behef is an activity of reason — and of reason
that is a good thing if the beUef is true, but a bad
thing if it is false. But god bestows upon us (if
indeed he does) merely reason — it is we who make
355
CICERO
rationem aut non bonam a nobis. Non enim ut patri-
monium relinquitur sic ratio est homini beneficio
deorum data ; quid enim potius hominibus dedissent
si iis nocere voluissent ? iniustitiae autem intem-
perantiae timiditatis quae semina essent, si his vitiis
ratio non subesset ?
XXIX. " Medea modo et Atreus commemora-
bantur a nobis, heroicae personae, inita subductaque
72 ratione nefaria scelera meditantes. Quid ? levitates
comicae parumne semper in ratione versantur ?
parumne subtiliter disputat ille in Eunucho :
quid igitur faciam ? . . .
exclusit, revocat ; redeam ? non si me obsecret.
Ille vero in Synephebis Academicorum more contra
communem opinionem non dubitat pugnare ratione,
qui * in amore sunimo ' * summaque inopia ' suave
esse dicit
parentem habere avarum, inlepidum, in liberos
difficilem, qui te nec amet nec studeat tui —
73 atque huic incredibih sententiae ratiunculas sug-
gerit :
aut tu illum fructu fallas aut per litteras
avertas aliquod nomen aut per servolum
percutias pavidum ; postremo a parco patre
quod sumas, quanto dissipes libentius !
Idemque facilem et hberalem patrem incommodum
esse amanti filio disputat :
• Terence, Eun. Act i. init,
" See on i. 13.
S56
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xxviii.— xxix.
it good or the reverse. The divine bestowal of reason
upon man is not in itself an act of beneficence, like
the bequest of an estate ; for what other gift could the
gods have given to men in preference if their intention
had been to do them harm ? and from what seeds
could injustice, intemperance and cowardice spring,
if these vices had not a basis in reason .'*
XXIX. " We alluded just now to Medea and
Atreus, characters of heroic legend, planning their
atrocious crimes 'with a cool calculation of profit and
72 loss. But what of the frivolous scenes of comedy ? Exampies
do not these show the reasoning faculty constantly abusc of
emploved ? Does not that younf^ nian in the Eunuch " reason fiora
argue subtly enough :
What shall I do then ? . . .
She shut me out, and now she calls me back ;
Well, shall I go ? No, not if she implores me.
While the one in the Young Comrades ^ does not
hesitate to employ the weapon of reason, in true
Academic style, to combat received opinion, when
he says
'Tis sweet, when deep in love and deep in debt,
To have a niggardly and ungracious sire,
Who loves you not and cares not for your weal —
73 an extraordinary dictum for which he subjoins some
reasons of a sort :
Thcn either you may cheat him of a rent,
Or forge a document and intercept
A debt thafs due to him, or send your page-boy
To trick him with some scare ; and last of all,
How much more fun it is to squander money
Which you have screwed out of a stingy father !
And he proceeds to argue that a kind and generous
father is a positive inconvenience to a son in love :
357
CICERO
qiiem neque quo pacto fallam nec quid inde auferam
nec quem dolum ad eum aut machinam commoliar
scio quicquam : ita omnes meos dolos fallacias
praestrigias praestrinxit commoditas patris.
Quid ergo isti doli, quid machinae, quid fallaciae
praestrigiaeque num sine ratione esse potuerunt ? O
praeclarum munus deorum, ut Phormio possit dicere :
cedo senem ; iam instructa sunt mi in corde consilia omnia !
74 XXX. " Sed exeamus e theatro, veniamus in forum.
Sessum It praetor. Quid ut iudicetur ? Qui tabu-
larium incenderit. Quod facinus occultius ? at^
se Q. Sosius splendidus eques Romanus ex agro
Piceno fecisse confessus est. Qui transscripserit
tabulas pubhcas. Id quoque L. Alenus fecit, cum
chirographum sex primorum imitatus est : quid
hoc homine sollertius ? Cognosce ahas quaestiones,
auri Tolossani, coniurationis lugurthinae ; repete
superiora, TubuU de pecunia capta ob rem iudican-
dam, posteriora, de incestu rogatione Peducaea,
tum haec cotidiana, sicae veneni^ peculatus, testa-
mentorum etiam, lege nova quaestiones. Inde illa
actio * ope consihoque tuo furtum aio factum esse,'
inde tot iudicia de fide mala, tutelae, mandati, pro
socio, fiduciae, rehqua quae ex empto aut vendito aut
conducto aut locato contra fidem fiunt, inde iudicium
1 at B : ad ^, id Davies, at id Schiitz.
2 veneni dett. : venena A, B.
" Toulouse joined the Cimbri in their revolt, and was
sacked by Q. Servilius Caepio, 106 b.c. ; the temples contained
large stores of gold. Caepio was most severely punished
for sacrilege on his return to R,ome.
358
DE NATURA DEORUiM, III. xxix.— xxx.
How Vm to cheat him, what to levy ofF him,
What plot to plan or trick to play upon him,
I can't imagine : all my tricks and dodges
My father's generosity has out-tricked.
Well then, how can those plots and devices, those
dodges and tricks have come into existence with-
out reasoning ? What a noble gift of the gods, that
enables Phormio to say :
Produce the old boy — my plans are all prepared !
Ji XXX. " But let us quit the theatre and visit the law- and from
courts. The praetor is about to take his seat. What court& '
is the trial to be about ? To fmd out M'ho set fire to
the record office, How couldyou have a craftier crime ?
yet Quintus Socius, a distinguished Roman knight,
confessed he had done it. To find out who tampered
with the public accounts. Well, this again was done
by Lucius Alenus, M-hen he forged the handwriting
of the six senior treasury clerks ; what could be
craftier than this fellow ? Note other trials — the
aifair of the gold from Toulouse," Jugurtha's con-
spiracy ; go back to an earher period, and take the
trial of Tubulus for giving a bribed verdict, or to a
later one, and take the trial for incest on Peducaeus's
motion, and then the trials under the new law, the
cases of assassination, poisoning, embezzlement and
forgery of wills, that are daily occurrences at the
present time. Reason is the source of the charge
* I declare that with your aid and counsel a theft was
committed ' ; hence spring all the trials for breach of
trust as to a guardianship, commission, in virtue of
partnership,trusteeship,and allthe othercases arising
frombreach of faith inpurchase or sale or hire or lease;
hence procedure on the public behalf in a private suit
359
CICERO
publicum rei privatae lege Plaetoria, inde everricu-
lum malitiarum omnium iudicium de dolo malo, quod
C. Aquillius familiaris noster protulit, quem dolum
idem Aquillius tum teneri putat cum aliud sit simu-
76 latum aliud actum. Hanc igitur tantam a dis inmor-
talibus arbitramur malorum sementim esse factam ?
Si enim rationem hominibus di dederunt, malitiam
dederunt ; est enim malitia versuta et fallax ratio
nocendi ; iidem etiam di fraudem dederunt, facinus
ceteraque, quorum nihil nec suscipi sine ratione nec
effici potest. Utinam igitur, ut illa anus optat
ne in nemore Pelio securibus
caesae accidissent abiegnae ad terram trabes,
gic istam calliditatem hominibus di ne dedissent !
qua perpauci bene utuntur, qui tamen ipsi saepe a
male utentibus opprimuntur, innumerabiles autem
improbe utuntur, ut donum hoc divinum rationis et
consilii ad fraudem hominibus, non ad bonitatem
impertitum esse videatur.
76 XXXI. " Sed urgetis identidem hominum esse
istam culpam, non deorum — ut si medicus gravitatem
morbi, gubernator vim tempestatis accuset ; etsi hi
quidem homuncuh, sed tamen ridicuH : ' Quis enim
te adhibuisset ' dixerit quispiam * si ista non essent ? '
Contra deum hcet disputare hberius : ' In hominum
^itiis ais esse culpam : eam dedisses hominibus ratio-
" This law made the cheating of young men by money-
lenders a criminal oifence, conviction carrying ineligibility
for public office.
" Probably this gave action for forms of fraud not coming
under any previous formula.
■= The opening lines of Ennius's Medea, translated from
Euripides : ei^' ^cpeXe . . . /atjS' iv vdirat.(Ti HrjXlov ireaeiv wore
Tfxrjdelcra ve6KT].
360
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xxx.— xxxi.
under the law of Plaetorius '^ ; hence that net to catch
wrong-doing of all sorts, the * action for mahcious
fraud ' ^ promulgated by our friend Gaius AquiUius, a
charge of fraud that AquilHus hkewise holds to be
proved when a man has pretended to do one thing
75 and has done another. Do we then really think that
this enormous crop of evil was sown by the immortal
gods ? For if the gods gave man reason, they gave
him malice, for malice is the crafty and covert plan-
ning of harm ; and Ukewise also the gods gave him
trickery and crime and all the other wickednesses,
none of which can be either planned or executed
without reasoning. * If only.' as the old nurse prays
in the tragedy,
Pelion's glades had never seen
The axe fell to the earth the pine-tree trunks,"
so if only the gods had never given to man that cun-
ning which you speak of ! Which very few use well,
and even these themselves are all the same often
crushed by those who use it badly ; whereas count-
less numbers use it wickedly, and make it seem that
this divine gift of reason and of wisdom was imparted
to man for the purpose of deception and not of honest
deaUng.
76 XXXI. " But you keep insisting that mankind and Providence
not the gods are to blame for this. That is as if a foreseen'^
physician should plead the severity of the disease, or thatman
a hehnsman the violence of the storm. Though these reason, and
are mere men — but even for them it would be an ^^!^^'^ °°^
absurd plea : ' if it were not so,' anybody would bestowed it.
rejoin, * who would have employed you ? ' But a god
one might rebut more roundly : ' You say that the
fault hes in men's vices ; you ought to have given
men a rational faculty of such a nature as would have
361
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nem, quae vitia culpamque excluderet.' Ubi igitur
locus fuit errori deorum ? Nam patrimonia spe bene
tradendi relinquimus, qua possumus falli ; deus falli
qui potuit ? An ut Sol in currum cum Phaethontem
fiUum sustuht, aut Neptunus cum Theseus Hippo-
lytum perdidit, cum ter optandi a Neptuno patre
77 habuisset potestatem ? Poetarum ista sunt, nos
autem philosophi esse volumus, rerum auctores, non
fabularum. Atque hi tamen ipsi di poetici si scissent
perniciosa fore illa fihis, peccasse in beneficio puta-
rentur. Ut^ si verum est quod Aristo Chius dicere
solebat, nocere audientibus philosophos iis qui bene
dicta male interpretarentur (posse enim asotos ex
Aristippi, acerbos e Zenonis schola exire), prorsus,
si qui audierunt vitiosi essent discessuri quod per-
verse philosophorum disputationem interpretarentur,
tacere praestaret philosophos^ quam iis qui se audis-
78 sent nocere : sic, si homines rationem bono consiho a
dis immortaUbus datam in fraudem maUtiamque con-
vertunt, non dari iUam quam dari humano generi
meUus fuit. Ut, si medicus sciat eum aegrotum
qui iussus sit vinum sumere meracius sumpturum
statimque periturum, magna sit in culpa, sic vestra
ista providentia reprehendenda , quae r ationem dederit
^ ut Davies : et.
' philosophos dett. : philosophis A^ B.
" Poseidon gave his son Theseus, King of Athens, three
wishes. Theseus wished the death of his son Hippolytus,
falsely accused by his siep-mother Phaedra of love for her.
Poseidon sent a sea-bull that scared Hippolytus's chariofc-
horses, and he was killed.
362
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xxxi.
precluded vice and crime.' What room therefore was
there for error on the part of the gods ? We men
bequeath legacies in the hope of bestowing them
beneficially, a hope in which we may be deceived ;
but how could god be deceived ? As the Sun was,
when he gave his son Phaethon a ride in his chariot ?
or Neptune, when his bestowal on his son of permis-
sion for three wishes resulted in Theseus' causing the
77 death of Hippolytus ° ? These are fables of the poets,
whereas we aim at being philosophers, who set down
facts, not fictions. And all the same, even these gods
of poetry would be held guilty of mistaken kindness
if they knew that their gifts would bring their sons
disaster. Just as, if a favourite saying of Aristo of
Chios was true, that philosopHers are harmful to
their hearers when the hearers put a bad interpreta-
tion on doctrines good in themselves (for he allowed
it was possible to leave the school of Aristippus a
profligate, or that of Zeno cantankerous), then
clearly, if their pupils were likely to go away de-
praved because they misinterpreted the philosophers'
discourses, it would be better for the philosophers
to keep silence than to do harm to those Mho heard
78 them : similarly, if men abuse the faculty of reason,
bestowed on them ^\-ith a good intention by the im-
mortal gods, by employing it to cheat and wTong
their fellows, it would have been better for it not
to be bestowed upon the human race than to be
bestowed. Just as, supposing a doctor to know that a
patient for whom he prescribes wine \W11 be certain
to drink it ^^lth too little water and vriW die on the
spot, that doctor would be greatly to blame, so your
Stoic pro^idence is to be censured for bestowing
reason upon those whom it knew to be going to use
S63
CICERO
iis quos scierit ea perverse et inprobe usuros. Nisi
forte dicitis eam nescisse. Utinam quidem ! sed
non audebitis, non enim ignoro quanti eius nomen
putetis.
79 XXXII. " Sed hic quidem locus concludi iam
potest. Nam si stultitia consensu omnium philo-
sophorum maius est malum quam si omnia mala et
fortunae et corporis ex altera parte ponantur,
sapientiam autem nemo adsequitur, in summis malis
omnes sumus quibus vos optume consultum a dis
inmortalibus dicitis. Nam ut nihil interest utrum
nemo valeat an nemo possit valere, sic non intellego
quid intersit utrum nemo sit sapiens an nemo esse
possit.
" Ac nos quidem nimis multa de re apertissuma ;
Telamo autem uno versu locum totum conficit cur
di homines neglegant :
nam si curent, bene bonis sit, maie malis ; quod nunc
abest.
Debebant illi quidem omnis bonos efficere, siquidem
80 hominum generi consulebant ; sin id minus, bonis
quidem certe consulere debebant. Cur igitur duo
Scipiones, fortissimos et optimos viros, in Hispania
Poenus oppressit ? cur Maximus extuHt filium con-
sularem ? cur Marcellum Hannibal interemit ? cur
Paulum Cannae sustulerunt ? cur Poenorum cru-
deUtati Reguh corpus est praebitum ? cur Africanum
domestici parietes non texerunt ? Sed haec vetera
* From Ennius's Telamon : the hero is bewailing the
death of Ajax.
^ See ii. 14 note e,
364
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xxxi.— xxxii.
it WTongly and evilly. Unless perhaps you say that
providence did not know. I only wish you would !
but you \\\\\ not dare to, for I am well aware how
liighly you esteem its name.
79 XXXII. " But this topic we may now bring to an Man'3iack
end. For if by the general consent'of all philosophers proves^Jh^e
folly is a greater e^il than all the ills of fortune and of indifference
the body when placed in the scale against it, and if |]o the '
wisdom on the other hand is attained by nobody, we, "j.^jj''"^^^*
for whose welfare you say that the gods have cared and the
most fully, are really in the depth of misfortune. JJg^^P^^e^^
For just as it makes no difference whether no one is
in good health or no one can be in good health, so I do
not understand what difference it makes whether
no one is ^\-ise or no one can he wise.
" However, we are dweUing too long on a point
that is perfectly clear. Telamo dispatches the whole
topic of proving that the gods pay no heed to man
in a single verse :
For if they cared for men, good men would prosper
And bad men come to grief ; but this is not so.*
Indeed the gods ought to have made all men good,
80 if they really cared for the human race ; or faihng
that, they certainly ought at all events to have cared
for the good. Why then were the two Scipios, the
bravest and noblest of men, utterly defeated by the
Carthaginians in Spain ? why did Maximus bury
his son, a man of consular rank ? why did Hannibal
slay Marcellus ? why did Cannae prove the ruin
of Paulus ? why was the person of Regulus sur-
rendered to the cruelty of the Carthaginians ? why
was not Africanus shielded by the walls of his home * ?
But these and numerous other instances are of long
CICERO
et alia permulta ; propiora videamus. Cur avun-
culus meus, vir innocentissumus idemque doctissu-
mus P. Rutilius, in exilio est ? cur sodalis meus
interfectus domi suae Drusus ? cur temperantiae
prudentiaeque specimen ante simulacrum Vestae
pontifex maximus est Q. Scaevola trucidatus ?
cur ante etiam tot civitatis principes a Cinna inter-
empti ? cur omnium perfidiosissimus C. Marius Q.
Catulum praestantissuma dignitate virum mori potuit
81 iubere ? Dies deficiat si velim enumerare^ quibus
bonis male evenerit,nec minus si commemorem quibus
improbis optime. Cur enim Marius tam feliciter
septimum consul domi suae senex est mortuus ? cur
omnium crudelissimus tam diu Cinna regnavit ? At
dedit poenas. XXXIII. Prohiberi melius fuit im-
pedirique ne tot summos viros interficeret quam ipsum
aliquando poenas dare. Summo cruciatu supplicio-
que Q. Varius, homo importunissumus, periit ; si
quia Drusum ferro Metellum veneno sustulerat,
illos conservari meUus fuit quam poenas sceleris
Varium pendere. Duodequadraginta annos Dio-
nysius tyrannus fuit opulentissumae et beatissumae
82 civitatis ; quam multos ante hunc in ipso Graeciae
flore Pisistratus ! * At Phalaris, at Apollodorus
poenas sustuHt.' Multis quidcm ante cruciatis et
necatis. Et praedones multi saepe poenas dant,
nec tamen possumus dicere non pluris captivos
* enumerare Ernesti : numerare.
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xxxii.— xxxiii.
ago ; let iis look at more recent cases. Why is my
uncle Publius Rutilius, a man of stainless honour and
also of consummate learning, now in exile ? wliy
was my comrade Drusus murdered in his owti home ?
why was that pattern of high principle and of wisdom,
the chief pontifF Quintus Scaevola, assassinated in
front of the statue of ^'esta ? why before that were
so many leading citizens also made away ^\ith by
Cinna ? why had that monster of treachery Gaius
Marius the power to order the death of that noblest
81 of mankind, Quintus Catulus ? The day would be
too short if I desired to recount the good men visited
by misfortune ; and equally so were I to mention
the wicked who have prospered exceedingly. For
why did Marius die so happily in his own home, an
old man and consul for the seventh time ? why did
that monster of cruelty Cinna lord it for so long ?
You Mill say that he was punished. XXXIII. It
would have been better for him to be hindered and
prevented from murdering so many eminent men,
than finally to be punished in his turn. That bar-
barous creature Quintus Varius was executed ^vith
the most painful torture ; if this was for stabbing
Drusus and poisoning Metellus, it would have been
better for their Hves to be preserved than for Varius
to be punished for his crime. Dionysius was despot
of a most wealthy and prosperous city for thirty-eight
82 years ; and before him, for how many years was
Pisistratus tyrant of Athens, the very flower of Greece !
* Ah but Phalaris (you say) met wiih punishment, and
80 did Apollodorus.' Yes, but not till after they had
tortured and killed many victims. Many brigands
too are frequently punished, but still we cannot say
that the captives cruelly murdered do not outnumber
367
CICERO
acerbe quam praedones necatos. Anaxarchum
Democriteum a Cyprio tyranno excarnificatum
accepimus, Zenonem Eleatem^ in tormentis necatum ;
quid dicam de Socrate, cuius morti inlacrimare^ soleo
Platonem legens ? Videsne igitur deorum iudicio,
si vident res humanas, discrimen esse sublatum ?
83 XXXIV. Diogenes quidem Cynicus dicere solebat
Harpalum, qui temporibus illis praedo felix habe-
batur, contra deos testimonium dicere quod in illa
fortuna tam diu viveret. Dionysius, de quo ante
dixi, cum fanum Proserpinae Locris expilavisset
navigabat Syracusas, isque cum secundissumo vento
cursum teneret, ridens ' Videtisne' inquit, * amici,
quam bona a dis inmortahbus navigatio sacrilegis
detur ? ' Idque^ homo acutus cum bene planeque
percepisset, in eadem sententia perseverabat ; qui
cum ad Peloponnesum classem appulisset et in fanum
venisset lovis Olympii, aureum ei detraxit amiculum
grandi pondere, quo lovem ornarat e manubiis
Karthaginiensium tyrannus Gelo, atque in eo etiam
cavillatus est aestate grave esse aureum amiculum,
hieme frigidum, eique laneum pallium iniecit, cum
id esse* ad omne anni tempus* diceret. Idemque
Aesculapii Epidauri barbam auream demi iussit,
neque enim convenire barbatum esse fihum cum in
84 omnibus fanis pater inberbis esset. Etiam mensas
argenteas de omnibus delubris iussit auferri, in
quibus cum more veteris Graeciae inscriptum esset
* Eleatem Marsus : Elete A, Elee B^ Eleae dett.
• inlacrimare det. : -ri A^ B. ^ idque Lambinus : atque.
* esse aptum dett. ^ tenipus aptum dett.
*• 9C. the PJiaedo, * Apollo.
368
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xxxiii.— xxxiv.
the brigands executed. It is related that Anaxarchus
the disciple of Democritus was cruelly butchered by
the tyrant of Cyprus, and Zeno of Elea tortured to
death. Why need I mention Socrates, whose death
when I read Plato ^ never fails to move me to tears ?
Do you see then that the verdict of the gods, if they
do regard men's fortunes, has destroyed all distinc-
83 tion between them ? XXXIV. Indeed Diogenes the
Cynic used to say that Harpalus, a brigand of the day
who passed as fortunate, was a standing witness
against the gods, because he Hved and prospered as
he did for so long. Dionysius, whom I mentioned
before, having plundered the temple of Proserpine at
Locri, was saihng back to Syracuse, and as he ran
before a very favourable wind, remarked with a
smile, * See you, my friends, what a good crossing the
immortal gods bestow on men guilty of sacrilege ? *
Ple was a clever fellow, and grasped the truth so
well and clearly that he remained in the same behef
continuously ; for touching with his fleet on the
coast of the Peloponnese and arriving at the temple
of Olympian Zeus, he stripped him of his gold mantle,
an adornment consisting of a great weight of metal,
bestowed upon the god by the tyrant Gelo out of the
spoils of the Carthaginians, and actually made a jest
about it, saying that a golden mantle was oppressive
in summer and cold in winter, and he threw on the
god a woollen cloak, saying it was for every season of
the year. He also gave orders for the removal of the
golden beard of Aesculapius at Epidaurus, saying it
was not fitting for the son to wear a beard when his
84 father^ appeared in all his temples beardless. He even
ordered the silver tables to be carried off from all the
shrines, saying that as they bore the inscription * the
369
CICERO
* bonorum deorum,' uti se eorum bonitate velle
dieebat. Idem Vietoriolas aureas et pateras coronas-
que quae simulacrorum porrectis manibus sustine-
bantur sine dubitatione toUebat, eaque se accipere
non auferre dicebat, esse enim stultitiam a quibus
bona precaremur ab iis porrigentibus et dantibus
nolle sumere. Eundemque ferunt haec quae dixi sub-
lata de fanis in forum protulisse et per praeconem
vendidisse, exactaque pecunia edixisse ut quod quis-
que a sacris^ haberet id ante diem certam in suum
quidque fanum referret ; ita ad impietatem in deos
in homines adiunxit iniuriam. XXXV. Hunc igitur
nec Olympius luppiter fuhnine percussit nec Aescu-
lapius misero diuturnoque morbo tabescentem inter-
emit, atque in suo lectulo mortuus in j- tjTannidis"
rogum inlatus est, eamque potestatem quara
ipse per scelus erat nanctus quasi iustam et legiti-
85 mam hereditatis loco fiHo tradidit. Invita in hoc
loco versatur oratio, videtur enim auctoritatem ad-
ferre peccandi : recte \ideretur, nisi et virtutis et
vitiorum sine ulla divina ratione grave ipsius con-
scientiae pondus esset. Qua sublata iacent omnia ;
ut enim nec domus nec res pubhca ratione quadara
et disciphna dissignata videatur si in ea nec recte
factis praemia extent ulla nec supphcia peccatis,
sic mundi divina [in homines]^ moderatio profecto
^ a sacris : sacri B.
' tyranni dis B: typanidis A. * Bouhier,
" ?.«., kindness, bounty, bonte.
^ The text is probably corrupt.
370
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xxxiv.— xxxv.
property of the good gods,' he dcsircd to profit by
their goodness.'* Also he used to have no scruples
in removing the httle gold images of Mctory and the
gold cups and cro^vns carried in the outstretched
hands of statues, and he used to say that he did not
take them but accepted them, for it was folly to pray
to certain beings for benefits and then when they
proffered them as a gift to refuse to receive them.
It is also related that he produced in the market-place
the spoils of the temples which I have mentioned and
sold them by auction, and after he had got the money
issued a proclamation that anybody who possessed
any article taken from a holy place must restore that
article before a fixed date to the shrine to which it be-
longed ; thus to impiety towards the gods he added
injustice towards men. XXXV. Well, Dionysius was
not struck dead with a thunderbolt by Olympian
Jupiter, nor did Aesculapius cause him to waste
away and perish of some painful and Hngering disease.
He died in his bed and was laid upon a royal ^ pyre,
and the power which he had himself secured by crime
he handed on as an inheritance to his son as a just and
85 lawful sovereignty. It is with reluctance that I en-
large upon this topic, since you may think that my
discourse lends authority to sin ; and you would be
justified in so thinking, were not an innocent or guilty
conscience so powerful a force in itself, without the
assumption of any divine design. Destroy this, and
everything collapses ; for just as a household or a
state appears to lack all rational system and order if
in it there are no rewards for right conduct and no
punishments for transgression, so there is no such
thing at all as the divine governance of the world if
371
CICERO
nulla est si in ea discrimen nullum est bonorum et
malorum.
86 " * At enim minora di neglegunt, neque agellos sin-
gulorum nec viticulas persequuntur, nec si uredo aut
grando quippiam nocuit, id lovi animadvertendum
fuit ; ne in regnis quidem reges omnia minima
curant ' : sic enim dicitis. Quasi ego paulo ante de
fundo Formiano P. Rutilii sim questus, non de
amissa salute. XXXVI. Atque hoc quidem omnes
mortales sic habent, externas commoditates, vineta
segetes oUveta, ubertatem frugum et fructuum, om-
nem denique commoditatem prosperitatemque vitae
a dis se habere ; virtutem autem nemo umquam
87 acceptam deo rettulit. Nimirum recte ; propter
virtutem enim iure laudamur et in virtute recte
gloriamur, quod non contingeret, si id donum a deo
non a nobis haberemus. At vero aut honoribus aucti
aut re familiari aut si aliud quippiam nacti sumus
fortuiti boni aut depuhnius mah, tum dis gratias agi-
mus, tum nihil nostrae laudi adsumptum arbitramur.
Num quis quod bonus vir esset gratias dis egit um-
quam ? at quod dives, quod honoratus, quod incolu-
mis. lovemque optumum et maxumum ob eas res
appellant, non quod nos iustos temperatos sapientes
efficiat, sed quod salvos incolumis opulentos copiosos.
88 Neque Herculi quisquam decumam vovit umquam si
sapiens factus esset — quamquam Pythagoras cum in
• §80.
"* A tenth part of spoils of war and of treasure-trove was
devoted to Hercules as god of treasures.
372
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xxxv.— xxxvi.
that governance makes no distinction between the
good and the wicked.
8G " ' But,' it may be objected, ' the gods disregard Man'siife
smaller matters, and do not pay attention to the a?^not "^^^
petty farms and paltry \-ines of individuals, and smaii
any trifling damage done by bhght or hail cannot Exwrai
have been a matter for the notice of Jupiter ; even s^^od^ umy
kmgs do not attend to all tne petty attairs m their these Gcd
kingdoms ' : this is how you argue. As if forsooth it wh^er^pas'
was Pubhus Rutihus's estate at Formiae about which viituea
I compkiined a httle time ago,° and not his loss of wTa'for"'
all security ! XXXVI. But this is the way with all himseit
mortals : their external goods, their \-ineyards, corn-
fields and ohve-yards, with their abundant harvests
and fruits, and in short all the comfort and prosperity
of their Uves, they think of as coming to them from
the gods ; but virtue no one ever imputed to a god's
87 bounty. And doubtless with good reason ; for our
virtue is a just ground for others' praise and a right
reason for our own pride, and this would not be so if
the gift of virtue came to us from a god and not from
ourselves. On the other hand when we achieve some
honour or some accession to our estate, or obtain any
other of the goods or avoid any of the evils of fortune,
it is then that we render thanks to the gods, and do
not think that our own credit has been enhanced.
Did anyone ever render thanks to the gods because
he was a good man ? No, but because he was rich,
honoured, secure. The reason why men give to
Jupiter the titles of Best and Greatest is not that
they think that he makes us just, temperate or wisc,
88 but safe, secure, wealthy and opulent. Nor did any-
one ever vow to pay a tithe to Hercules ^ if he becamc
a wise man ! It is true there is a story that Pytli-
S73
CICERO
geometria quiddam novi invenisset Musis bovem im«
molasse dicitur ; sed id quidem non credo. quoniam
ille ne ApoUini quidem Delio hostiam immolare
voluit ne aram sanguine aspergeret. Ad rem autem
ut redeam, iudicium hoc omnium mortalium est, for-
tunam a deo petendam, a se ipso sumendam esse
sapientiam. Quamvis Ucet Menti delubra et Virtuti
et Fidei^ consecremus, tamen haec in nobis ipsis
sita \ddemus ; spei salutis opis victoriae facultas a
dis expetenda est. Inproborum igitur prosperitates
secundaeque res redarguunt, ut Diogenes dicebat,
89 vim omnem deorum ac potestatem. XXXVII. ' At
non numquam bonos exitus habent boni.' Eos
quidem arripimus attribuimusque sine uUa ratione
dis inmortalibus. At Diagoras cum Samothracam
venisset, aOeos ille qui dicitur, atque ei quidam
amicus ' Tu, qui deos putas humana neglegere,
nonne animadvertis ex tot tabulis pictis quam multi
votis vim tempestatis effugerint in portumque salvi
pervenerint ? ' * Ita fit ' inquit, * illi enim nusquam
picti sunt qui naufragia fecerunt in marique perie-
runt.' Idemque, cum ei naviganti vectores adversa
tempestate timidi et perterriti dicerent non iniuria
sibi illud accidere qui illum in eandem navem recepis-
sent, ostendit eis in eodem cursu muUas aUas labo-
rantis quaesivitque num etiam in iis navibus Dia-
goram vehi crederent. Sic enim res se habet ut ad
1 Fidei secl. <et Spei> {del. in/ra spei) Pearce.
" " Hope " shonld probably be transferred to the preceding
Ust, after " Failh," c/. § 61.
374
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xxxvi.— xxxvii.
agoras used to sacrifice an ox to the Muses when he
had made a new discovery in gcometry ! but I don't
beUeve it, since Pythagoras refused even to sacrifice
a victim to Apollo of Delos, for fear of sprinkHng the
altar with blood. However, to return to my point, it
is the considered belief of all mankind that they must
pray to god for fortune but obtain wisdom for them-
selves. Let us dedicate temples as we will to Intel-
lect, Virtue and Faith, yet we perceive that these
things are within ourselves ; hope,'* safety, wealth,
victory are blessings which we must seek from the
gods. Accordingly the prosperity and good fortune
of the wicked, as Diogenes used to say, disprove the
9 might and power of the gods entirely. XXXVII. is^notf
* But sometimes good men come to good ends.' Yes, re^^rded
and we seize upon these cases and impute them A\1th and vice is
no reason to the immortal gods. Diagoras, named by^iJJn'^
the Atheist, once came to Samothrace, and a certain ifataU.
friend said to him, * You who think that the gods dis-
regard men's affairs, do you not remark all the votive
pictures that prove how many persons have escaped
the violence of the storm, and come safe to port,
by dint of vows to the gods ? ' * That is so,' replied
Diagoras ; ' it is because there are nowhere any
pictures of those who have been shipwi-ecked and
drowned at sea.' On another voyage he encountered
a storm which threw the crew of the vessel into a
panic, and in their terror they told him that they had
brought it on themselves by having taken him on
board their ship. He pointed out to them a number
of other vessels making heavy weather on the same
course, and inquired whether they supposed that
those ships also had a Diagoras on board. The fact
really is that your character and past life make no
375
CICERO
prosperam adversamve fortunam qualis sis aut quem
ad modum ^ixeris nihil intersit.
00 " ' Non animadvertunt ' inquit ' omnia di, ne reges
quidem.' Quid est simile ? Reges enim si scientes
praetermittunt.magna culpa est ; XXXVIII. at deone
excusatio quidem est inscientiae. Quem vos praeclare
defenditis, cum dicitis eam vim deorum esse ut etiamsi
quis morte poenas sceleris effugerit expetantur eae
poenae a liberis a nepotibus a posteris. O miram
aequitatem deorum : ferretne civitas ulla latorem
istius modi legis, ut condemnaretur filius aut nepos
si pater aut avus deliquisset ?
quinam Tantalidarum internecioni modus
paretur, aut quaenam umquam ob mortem Myrtili
poenis luendis dabitur satias supplici ?
01 Utrum poetae Stoicos depravarint an Stoici poetis
dederint auctoritatem non facile dixerim ; portenta
enim ab utrisque et flagitia dicuntur. Neque enim
quem Hipponactis iambus laeserat aut qui erat Archi-
lochi versu volneratus, a deo inmissum dolorem, non
conceptum a se ipso continebat, nec cum Aegisthi
hbidinem aut cum Paridis videmus a deo causam
requirimus, cum culpae paene vocem audiamus, nec
ego multorum aegrorum salutem non ab Hippocrate
potius quam ab Aesculapio datam iudico, nec Lace-
daemoniorum disciplinam dicam umquam ab ApoUine
potius Spartae quam a Lycurgo datam. Critolaus
inquam evertit Corinthum, Karthaginem Hasdrubal :
" IW Attius, probably from Thyestes.
* \ iz. of the death of Agamemnon, and the fall of Troy.
' Ccneral of the Achaean League, defeated by the Romans
147 B.c. ; next year Corinth was takcn and destroyed.
876
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xxxvii.— xxxviii.
differeiice whatever as regards vour fortune good or
bad.
90 " * The gods do not take notice of everything, any
more than do human rulers,' says our friend. Where
is the parallel ? If human rulers knowinoly overlook
a fault they are greatly to blame ; XXX\'III. but as
for god, he cannot even offer the excuse of ignorance.
And how remarkably you champion his cause, when
you declare that the divine power is such that even if
a person has escaped punishment by dyine', the punish-
ment is visited on his children and grandchildren and
their descendants ! What a remarkable instance of
the divine justice ! Would any state tolerate a law-
giver who should enact that a son or grandson was
to be sentenced for the transgression of a father or
grandfather ?
Where shall the Tantalids' vendetta end ?
What penalty for Myrtilus's murder
Shall ever glut the appetite of vengeance ? *
91 Whether the Stoic philosophers were led astray by
the poets, or the poets rehed on the authority of the
Stoics, I should find it hard to say ; for both tell some
monstrous and outrageous tales. For the victim
lashed by the lampoons of Hipponax or the verses of
Archilochus nursed a wound not inflicted by a god
but received from himself ; and we do not look for
any heaven-sent cause ^ when we view the Hcentious-
ness of Aegisthus or of Paris, since their guilt almost
cries aloud in our ears ; and the bestowal of health
upon many sick persons I ascribe to Hippocrates
rather than to Aesculapius ; and I will never allow
that Sparta received the Lacedaemonian rule of Hfe
from Apollo rather than from Lycurgus. It was
Critolaus,*' I aver, who overthrew Corinth, and
877
CICERO
hi duo illos oculos orae maritumae efibderunt, non
iratus aliqui quem omnino irasci posse negatis, deus.
92 At subvenire certe potuit et conservare urbis tantas
atque talis ; XXXIX. vos enim ipsi dicere soletis nihil
esse quod deus efficere non possit, et quidem sine
labore ullo ; ut enim hominum membra nulla con-
tentione mente ipsa ac voluntate moveantur, sic
numine deorum omnia fingi moveri mutarique posse.
Neque id dicitis superstitiose atque aniUter sed physica
constantique ratione ; materiam enim rerum, ex qua
et in qua onmia sint, totam esse flexibilem et com-
mutabilem, ut nihil sit quod non ex ea quam^is
subito fingi convertique possit ; eius autem universae
fictricem et moderatricem di\inam esse providentiam ;
hanc igitur, quocumque se moveat, efficere posse
quicquid veUt. Itaque aut nescit quid possit, aut
neglegit res himaanas, aut quid sit optimum non
93 potest iudicare. * Non curat singulos homines.'
Non mirum : ne civitates quidem. Non eas^ } Ne
nationes quidem et gentes. Quodsi has etiam con-
temnet, quid mirum est omne ab ea genus humanum
esse contemptum ? Sed quo modo iidem dicitis non
omnia deos persequi, iidem voltis a dis inmortaUbus
hominibus dispertiri ac dividi somnia ? idcirco haec
tecum quia vestra est de somniorum veritate sen-
tentia. Atque iidem etiam vota suscipi dicitis
* non <modo/ eas Miiller,
378
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xxxviii.— xxxix.
Hasdrubal Carthage : those two glories of the sea-
coast were extinguished by these mortals, not by some
angry god — who according to your school is entirely
92 incapable of anger. But at all events a god could have
come to the aid of those great and splendid cities and
havepreservedthem — XXXIX. foryouyourselvesare God, if
fond of saying that there is notliing that a god cannot o"*ifjfg^^'*
accompUsh, and that ^^dthout any toil ; as man's mightstin
Hmbs are effortlessly moved merely by his mind and thrgood
Mill, so, as you say, the sods' power can mould and if°ot.
j ij. n^-i.- XT J 4-1- individuals,
move and alter all thmgs. JNor do you say this as then
some superstitious fable or old wives' tale, but you jiations, or
give a scientific and systematic account of it : you at large :
allege that matter, which constitutes and contains to be^[evr^
all things, is in its entirety flexible and subject toindivina-
change, so that there is nothing that cannot bcyjurfjie
moulded and transmuted out of it however suddenly, godshave
but the moulder and manipulator of this univer- spare.
sal substance is divine providence, and therefore
providence, w^hithersoever it moves, is able to perform
whatever it will. Accordingly either providence does
not know its own powers, or it does not regard
human affairs, or it lacks power of judgement to
93 discern what is the best. * It does not care for in-
dividuals.' This is no wonder ; no more does it care
for cities. Not for these ? Not for tribes or nations
either. And if it shall appear that it despises even
nations, what wonder is it that it has scorned the
entire human race ? But how can you both maintain
that the gods do not pay attention to everything and
also believe that dreams are distributed and doled out
to men by the immortal gods ? I argue this with you
because the beHef in the truth of dreams is a tenet
of your school. And do you also say that it is proper
379
>
CICERO
oportere ? Nempe singuli vovent : audit igitur inens
divina etiam de singulis ; videtis ergo non esse eam
tam occupatam quam putabatis ? Fac esse disten-
tam, caelum versantem terram tuentem maria
moderantem : cur tam multos deos nihil agere et
cessare patitur ? cur non rebus humanis aliquos
otiosos deos praeficit qui a te, Balbe, innumerabiles
explicati sunt ?
" Haec fere dicere habui de natura deorum, non
ut eam tollerem sed ut intellegeretis quam esset
obscura et quam difficilis expHcatus haberet."
94 XL. Quae cum dixisset, Cotta finem. Lucihus
autem " Vehementius " inquit, " Cotta, tu quidem
invectus es in eam Stoicorum rationem quae de
providentia deorum ab iUis sanctissume et provi-
dentissume constituta est. Sed quoniam adves-
perascit, dabis nobis diem ahquem ut contra ista
dicamus. Est enim mihi tecum pro aris et focis cer-
tamen et pro deorum temphs atque delubris proque
urbis muris, quos vos pontifices sanctos esse dicitis
dihgentiusque urbem rehgione quam ipsis moenibus
cingitis ; quae deseri a me, dum quidem spirare
potero, nefas iudico."
95 Tum Cotta : " Ego vero et opto redargui me,
Balbe, et ea quae disputavi disserere malui quam
iudicare, et facile me a te vinci posse certo scio."
380
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xxxix.— xl.
for men to take vows upon themselves ? Well, })ut
vuAS are made by individuals ; therefore the divine
mind gives a hearing even to the concerns of in-
dividuals ; do you see therefore that it is not so
engrossed in business as you thought ? Grant that it
is distracted between moving the heavens and watch-
ing the earth and controUing the seas : why does it
sutfer so many gods to be idle and keep hoHday ?
why does it not appoint some of the leisured gods
w^hose countless numbers you expounded, Balbus, to
superintend human affairs ?
" This more or less is what I have to say about the
nature of the gods ; it is not my design to disprove it,
but to bring you to understand how obscure it is and
how difficult to explain."
94 XL. So saying, Cotta ended. But Lucihus said : Conciusion.
" You have indeed made a slashing attack upon the
most reverently and wisely constructed Stoic doc-
trine of the divine providence. But as evening is
now approaching, you will assign us a day on which to
make our answer to your views. For I have to fight
against you on behalf of our altars and hearths, of the
temples and shrines of the gods, and of the city-
walls, which you as pontiffs declare to be sacred and
are more careful to hedge the city round witli
religious ceremonies than even with fortifications ;
and my conscience forbids me to abandon their cause
so long as I yet can breathe."
95 " I on my side," repUed Cotta, " only desire to be
refuted. My purpose was rather to discuss the doc-
trines I have expounded than to pronounce judge-
ment upon them, and I am confident that you can
easily defeat me."
o 381
CICERO
" Quippe " inquit Velleius " qui etiam somnia
putet ad nos mitti ab love, quae ipsa tamen tam
levia non sunt quam est Stoicorum de natura deorum
oratio."
Haec cum essent dicta, ita discessimus ut Velleio
Cottae disputatio verior, mihi Balbi ad veritatis
similitudinem videretur esse propensior.
382
DE NATURA DEORUM, III. xl.
" Oh, no doubt," interposed Velleius ; " why, he
thinks that even our dreams are sent to us by Jupiter
— though dreams themselves are not so unsubstantial
as a Stoic disquisition on the nature of the gods."
Here the conversation ended, and \ve parted,
Velleius thinking Cotta's discourse to be the truer,
while I felt that that of Balbus approximated more
nearly to a semblance of the truth.
SSS
FRAGMENTA
Ex LiBRO DE Natura Deorum tertio
1. Lactarit. Inst. div. ii. 3. 2 Intellegebat Cicero
falsa esse quae homines adorarent. Nam cum multa
dixisset quae ad eversionem religionum valerent, ait tamen
non esse illa vulgo disputanda, ne susceptas publice
religiones disputatio talis exstinguat.
2. Ih. ii. 8. 10 Cicero de natura deorum disputans sic
ait : Primum igitur non est probabile eam materiam
rerum unde orta sunt omnia esse divina providentia
effectam, sed habere et habuisse vim et naturam
suam. Ut igitur faber cum quid aedificaturus est
non ipse facit materiam sed ea utitur quae sit parata,
fictorque item cera, sic isti providentiae di\1nae
materiam praesto esse oportuit non quam ipsa^ faceret
sed quam haberet paratam. Quodsi non est a deo
materia facta, ne terra quidem et aqua et aer et
ignis a deo factus est.
3. Maii veit. interpr. Virg. p. 45 ed. Med. apud
Ciceronem de natura deorum LT, uhi de Cleomene
Lacedaemonio . . .
4. Diomedes i. p. 313. 10 Keil. Cicero de deorum
natura tertio : homines omnibus bestiis antecedunt.
^ ipsa edd. : ipse mss.
* This and the three following fragments Plasberg inserts
in Book III. § 65.
384
FRAGMENTS
Fragments of Book III
1.° Lactantius, Divine Institutions ii. 32. Cicero rvas
aware that the objects of mois worship werefalse. For
after saying a numher of things tending to suhvert
religion, he adds nevertheless that these matters ought
not to be discussed in pubhc, lest such discussion
destroy the estabhshed rehgion of the nation.
2. Ih. ii. 8. 10. Cicero in discussing the nature of the
gods says thus : First therefore it is not probable that
the material substance from which all things are
derived was created by divine providence, but that
it has and has had a force and nature of its own. As
therefore the carpenter when about to build a house
does not himself make timber but employs that which
has been prepared, and the same with the modeller
and his wax, so your divine providence ought to have
been supphed with matter not made by itself but
given to it ready-made. But if matter was not made
by god, earth, water, air and fire also were not made
by god.
3. Maius' Ancient Interpreters of Virgil, p. 45, ed.
Milan. In Cicero's de Natura Deorum hk. III., where
5j3eaA-/"«g o/Cleomenes of Sparta . . .
4. Diomedes i. p. 313. 10 Keil. Cicero de Natura
Dcorum hk. III Men surpass all the lower animals.
385
CICERO
Ex LlBRIS INCERTIS
5. Serv. ad Verg. Aen. iii. 284 Tullius in libro de
naiura deorum tria milia annorum dixit magnum
annum tenere.
6. Serv. ad Verg. Aen. iii. 600 spirabile . . . est
sermo Cicercnis, quanquam ille spiritabile dixerit in
libris de deorum natura.
7. Serv. ad Verg. Aen. vi. 894 Per portam corneam
oculi significantur, qui et cornei sunt et duriores ceteris
membris, nam frigus non sentiunt sicut etiam Cicero
dixit in libris de natura deorum.
" See ii. 51 f., where, however, the length of the Great
Year is stated to be uncertain. In Hortensius, fr. 26, Cicero
gave it as 12954 years.
^ One Ms. of Servius has spiritale, which is probably
386
DE NATURA DEORUM, fraqments
Fragments of uncertain Origin
5. Servius on Virgil Aen. iii. 284. Tully in his book
on the nature of the gods said that the Great Year con-
tains three thousand years.**
6. Id. on Aen. iii. 600. * Spirabile ' . . . is in the
style of Cicero, although he said ' spiritabile ' ^ in his
books on the nature of the gods.
7. Id. on Aen. vi. 894. By * the gate of horn ' the
eyes are meant, which are boih horny and harder than
the other parts of the body, for they do not feel cold, as
Cicero also said in his books on the nature of the gods.'^
correct. In N.B, ii. 18 we find spiritalem, with a less well
attested variant spiritahilem, presumably a mere error. The
usual form is spiritualis.
'^ There is nothing hke this about the eyes in Cicero,
tliough in ii. 144 he says " the ears have hard and so to speak
horny entrances."
387
INDEX 10 DE NATURA DEORUM
Absyrtus (brother of Medea, killed
by her), iii. 48
Academica, Cicero's, L 11
Academy, non-dogmatic, 1. 1-14;
doctrine of epodic, i. 11 ; of prob-
ability, i. 12 ; rhetoric of, ii.
16S
Accius (Roman tragic author, 170-
?100 B.c), quoted, li. 89 ; iii. 41,
68, 90
accoramodare {(rvvoi.Keiovv), i. 41,
104 ; ii. 45, 139
Achcron (river in Hades), iii. 43
Achilles, worship of, iii. 45
adaptation of animals to environ-
ment, ii. 121 ff., for propagation
of species, ii. 128 ff., for use of
man, ii. 158 ff. ; of man's struc-
ture, ii. 134 ff. ; of nature for
use of man, ii. 130 ff., 154 ff.
Adonis, iii. 59
Aegialeus ( = Absyrtu8), liL 48
Aegisthus, iii. 91
aerfuahilis tributio. aequilibriias
(io-ovo/xia), i. 50, 109
Ae.sculapii, three, iii. 57
Aesculapius, human benefactor
deified, ii. 62 ; iii. 39, 45, 91 ; Epi-
daurian, his gold beavd, iii. &3
aether, a foreign word, ii. 91, 101 ;
divine, i. 36; =Jove, ii. 65;
source of soul and life, ii. 18, 39
ff. ; fiery heat, i. 33, 37 ; ii. 41,
53; holds world togfther, ii. 101,
115 ; inhabited, ii. 43
Aether, father of Caelus, iiL 44;
father of Jove, iii. 53 t
Africanus. See Scipio
air, =Juno, ii. 66; propertios of, i.
40; iL17, 26 f., 42, 83, 101, 117;
iii. 30
388
Alabanda (city in Caria, nampd
from hero Alabandus), iii. 39, 60
Albucius (praetor in Sardinia 105
B.C., condemned de repefundif',
retired to Athens and Epicurean
philosophy), L 93
Alcaeus (Greek lyric poet of
Mitylene, fl. 600 B.C.), quoted in
Latin, i. 79
Alcamenes (Athenian sculptor, Jl.
441:— 400 B.C., pupil of Pheidia.'-),
L 83
Alcmaeo (philosopher of Crotona
in Italy, j-oucger contempoi-ary
of Pj'thagoras, end of 6ih cent.
B.c), L 27
Alco, one of the Dioscuri, iii. 53
Alexander the Great, ii. 09
allegory, Stoic use of, i. 36 f., 41 ;
ii. 62 fl". ; iii. 62 ff.
Almo (a small tributary of the
Tiber), iii. 52
alphabet, the Latin, ii. 93
Amor, iii. 44
Amphiaraus, a legendary augur, iL
7 ; iii. 49
Anactes (' Kings '), iii. 53
Anaxagoras (lonian philosopher
500-428 B.C., teacher of Pericles
and Euripides), i. 26
Anaxarchus (a philosopher of
Abdera, accompanied Alexander
into Asia; incurred the hatred
of Nicocreon, king of Salamis in
Cypras, by his free speakinp,
and pounded to death in a
mortar), iii. 83
Anaximander (of Miletus, 610-547
B c), L 25
Anaxinienes (of Miletus, /l. end of
6th cent. B.C.), i. 26
INDEX TO DE NATURA DEORUM
i,*oinial life, wonders of, ii. 121 fT.
AnniLS magnu^f, ii. 51
Anteros, iii. 60
^ithropomorphism, 1. 46 ff., 71 ff.,
102
Antiope, iii. 54
Antisthenes (pupil of Socrates,
founder of Cynic school), i. 32
Aoede, iii. 54
Apis, i. 82
Apollo (meaning of name), ii. 68 ;
iii. 55, 57, 8S, Pl
ApoUodorus (minor Stoic philo-
sopher), i. 93
Apollodorus (tyrant of Cassan-
dria, formerly Potidaea, c. 280
B.c, overthrown by Antio'ouus
Gonatas), iii. 82
Aquillius (C. Gallus, praetor with
Cicero 6t3 b.c), iii. 74
Aratus, ii. 104 ff. (see note), 159
Arcesilas (c. 315-240 b.c, founder
of second Academy), i. 11, 70
Arche, iii. 54
Archilochus (of Paros, JL 700
B.C. invented iambic metre ;
lampooned Lycambes for break-
ing his promise to give h"m a
daughter in marriage ; she and
her sisters hanged themselves for
shame), iii. 91
Archiraedes (raathematician and
astronomer of Syracuse, 2s7-212
B.c. : his orrery brought to Rome
by MarcellusX ii. 88
Arctoe, ii. 105
Arctophyl.ie. ii. 109
Arcturus, ii. 110
Arctus, ii. 109 ff
Ardea (ancient town in Latium),
iii. 47
Areopagus, ii. 74
Argo, ii. 89, 114
Argus, iil 56
Aristaeus, iii. 45
Aristippus (of Cyrene, pupil of
Socrates, founder of Cyrenaic
school of hedonism), iii. 77
Aristo (of Chios, Stoic, reacted
towards Cynicism), i. 37; iii,
77
Aristotle (385-322 b.c), quoted, ii.
42, 4J, 61, 95, 125; Epicurean
criticism of, i. 20, 33, 93 ; dia-
logue On Philosophy (lost), i, 33,
107
Ar^inoe, iii. 57
Arsippus, iii. 57
Asia (under K. Dionysus), iii. 58
asomata, i. 30
Astarte (Venus), iii. 69
Asteria (mother of Hercules), iii.
42; (of Ilecate), iii. 46
astron omy , heliocentric, i. 24 ; ii.
"53, TTw*, geocentric, ii. 91, 98 ;
the planets, ii. 51 ff., 103, 119;
exhalation, ii. 40, 83, 118; iii. 87
Astypalaea(one of Cyclades islands
near Cos), iii. 46
atheism, i. (52 f., 118; iii. 89
^f^eos(Diogenes), i. 62
Atreus, iii. 53, 68, 76
Attic wit, i. 93
Attus Navius, ii. 9 ; iii. 14
augury, ii. 7tf., 65, 160; iii. 52
Behis, iii. 42
Boeotia, iii. 49
Boot€s, ii. 109 f.
botany, ii. 29, 33, 120, 127
Britain, barbarism of, ii, 88; tides
in, iii. 24
Cabirus, iii, 58
Cadmus, iii. 48
Caelius Antipater (Roman jurist
JL end of 2ad centnry b.c,
wrote history of Punic wars),
ii. 8
Caelus (Uranus), ii, 63 ; iii. 44, 53 ff.
Calatinus, Atilius (consul 258 and
•254 B.c, deteated Carthaginiuns
in Ist Punic war), ii. 61, 165
Calchas, ii. 7
Camirus (city in Rhodes), iii. 64
Cancer, ii. 110
Canicula (Sirius), iii. 26
Cannae (death ofPauUus atbattle
of, 216 B.c), iii. 80
Carbo (C. Papirius, partisan of
Gracchi, but defeuded murdereT
of Gaius), i. 64
Carneales (of Cyrene, 214-129 b.c,
head of Middle Academy;
Athenian amba.s.sador to Rome
155 B.c), i. 4, 11 ; ii, 162 ; iii.
29, 44
Carthage, iii, 42, 83, 91
389
INDEX TO DE NATURA DEORUM
Ca^tor and Pollux, ii. 6; iii. 11 ff.,
63
cat deified in Egypt, i. 82, 101 ;
iii. 47
Cato (censor 184 B.c), L 71 ; ii.
165; iii. 11
Critnlus the elder (consul 102 b.c,
died in Marian proscription 67
B.c), i. 79 ; iii. 80
Catulus the younger (consul 78
B.c), i. 79
Centaurs, iii. 51
ceRtripetal universe, ii. 115 ff.
Cerberus, iii. 43
Cercops, i. 107
Ceres ( = earth), i. 40; il. 67; iii.
52, 62 ; ( = corn), ii. 60 ; iii. 41, 52
Charon, iii. 43
Chimaera, i. 108 ; ii. 5
ChroDOB (=Kronos), ii. 64
Chrysippus (280-206 B.c, third
head of Stoic school), i. 39 ; ii. 16,
37, 63, 160; iii. 18, 25, 63; nick-
named Chrysippa, i. 93
Cicero, biographical details, i. 14,
59, 79, 93 ; iii. 46, 59, 83 ; philo-
sophical studies, i. 5-12
Cinna (consul 87 b.c, leader in
ilarian massacre), iii. 80 f.
Circe, iii. 48, 54
Cleanthes (succeeded Zeno as head
of Stoic school c. 260 b.c), i.
37 ; ii. 13, 24, 40, 63 ; iii. 16, 63
Cocytus, iii. 43
Codrus, iii. 49
Concord (temple on Capitol built
367 B.C on passing of Licinian
laws), ii. 61 ; iii. 47, 61
conscience a witness to God, iii.
46, 85
Corinth, fall of, 146 B.c, iiL 91
(see note)
Coronis, iii. 50 (see crit. n.)
Coruncanius i. 115 ; ii. 165 ; iii. 5
Cotta (see Introd. p. xiv), i. 15 ; ii.
168 ; iiL 5, 95
fjpnfinn nf U-nrlfi inp.f^pppH'a>.lft, i.
i9 ff.
Ciitolaus, iii. 91 n.
crocodile, i. 82, 101 ; iL 124, 129 ;
iiL 47
Cronos, ii. 64
Crotona (see Locri), ii. 6
Cupidines, iiL 59 ff.
S90
Cupido, ii. 61 ; iii. 58
Curius, iL 165
cycle of existence of world, 11. 118
Decii (P. Decius Mus immolated
himself in Latin war 340 b.c. ;
son of same name fell at Seu-
tinum iu Etru.scau war 205 b.c. ;
grandson fell at Asculiim in war
against PviThus 279 b.c), iii.
15 ; c/. ii. 10
Deianeira (wife of Hercales), iiL
70
deification of abstractions, ii. 60
ff., 79
Delphi, iii. 57
Democritus (of Abdera in Thrace,
c. 460-361 b.c, atomist), i. 29,
75, 93, 107, 120 ; iL 76 ; doctrine
of design, ii. 120 ff.
Diagoras (of Melos, ' the Atheist,'
pupil of Democritus, fled from
Athens when prosecuted for
impiety 411 b.c), L 2, 63, 117;
iiL 89
Diana, ii. 68 f. ; iii. 58
Digiti (Dactyli, ' Fingers,' five
wise men of Mt. Ida in Crete
or Plirygia, Hercules being the
eldest), iii. 42
Diodotus (Stoic philosopher, lived
with Cicero from 84 to his death
59 B.C.), i. 6
Diogenes of Apollonia (natural
philosopher, 5th cent. B.C.), L
29
Diogenes of Babylon (fourth head
of Stoic school, mid. 2nd cent.
B.C.), i. 41
Diogenes the Cynic (d. 323 B.c),
ilL 83, 88
Dioiivsius (the elder, tyrant of
Syracuse, 405-368 ac), iii. 82 ff.
Dioscuri, iii. 53
' Dis,' from dives, ii. 66
divination (mantike), i. 55 ; IL 4 S.,
162 f., 166; iii. 5, 11 ff., 95
Drusus (reformer, murdered 91
B.C.), iiL 80 f.
Duellius, ii. 165
■iTyeiJ.oviKoi'. See hegemonikon,
Ei^yptian mythology, i. 43
ei/xap/aei^. 8ee heiriiarmerU.
INDEX TO DE NATURA DEORUM
elements, denizens of, i. 103 ; ii.
42
elephant, ii. 151, 161
Eieiisis, i. 119
Empedocles (philosopher and
statesman of Agrigentum, jl.
400 B.c), i. 29,93
Ennniasin {ev yovacTLv, COnstella-
tion of a kneelina; man), ii. lOS
Eunius (Roman epic poet 239-169
B.C.), i. 119; ii. 4, 65, 93; iii. 10,
41», 65 f., 75, 79
Epicurus, his theology expounded,
i. IS S. ; demolished, i. 57 ff.
epiphanies, i. 36, 46, 76; ii. 6, 166 ;
iii. 11 ff,
epoche, i. 11
Erebns, iii. 44
Ereclitheus (legendary king of
Athens, to secure whose \actorj'
in war his daughters offered
their lives iu sacritice), iii. 49 f.
'Ecnrepo?. See Hesperos
'Ea-rCa- See Hestia
eternity, the notion of, i. 22
PJtna, eruption of, ii. 96
Etruscan augury, ii. 10 tL
Eubouleus, iii. 53
Euhemerus (Greek rationalizing
mythologist, fl. 300 B.C.), L 119
Eunienides, iii. 46
Euripides, quoted, iL 65
Europa, i. 78 ; ii. 165 ; iil 24
Eviolus (?), iii. 53
Fabius, Q. Maximus Cunctator
(dedicated temple to Honos 233
B.C., hero of 2nd Punic war),
ii. 61, 165 ; iii. 80
Fabricius, iL 165
Faunus, ii. 6; iii. 15
tiie, v ital properties of, L 103 ; ii.
' 4u, 42 ; Heraclitus's primary,
refuted, iii. 35 ff.
fish, Avorship of, iii. 39, 47
Flaminius, C. (consul, fell in battle
with Hannibal at Trasimene 217
B.c), ii. 8
flux, basis of life, i. 39 ; ii. 84 ; iii.
30
Fons (god of wells, son of Janus),
iii. 52
Formiae (Mola di Gaieta : ruins of
Cicero'3 vilJa still shown), iii. 86
friendship, ulilitarian, i. 122
Furies, Furina, iii. 46
Gelo (tyrant of Syracuse 491-478
B.C), iii. S3
Gemeter, ii. 67
Gigas, ii. 70
Glaiice, iii. 58
Gracchus, Ti. Sempronius (consul
177 and 163 b.c, father of the
tribunes), i. 106 ; ii. 10, 11, 165
gravitation, ii. 115
Haedi (' Kids,' constellation), ii.
110
hand. mechanism of, ii. 150 ff.
Hannibal, iii. 80
Harpalus (protligate treasurer of
Alexander, fled to Athens 324
B.c), iii. 83
Hasdrubal, iii. 91
hawk, ii. 125
heat vital, ii. 23 ff.
hedonism refutt^d, i. 111 S.
he'jemonikon, ii. 29
hcimarmene, i. 55
Helenus (.son of Priara, foretold
fjrtunes of Aeneas). ii. 7
Heliee ('screw'), ii. 105, 110
Heliopoli.s (ci:y on Nile), iii. 54
Heraclides of Pontus (pupil of
Plato and Aristotle), i. 34
Heraclitus ('the obycure,' philo--
sopher of Ephesus, late 6th ceut.
B.C.) i. 74; iii. 35
Hercules, ii. 02 ; iii. 39, 41 f., 50,
70, 88
Hermarchus (of Mitylene, suo
ceeded Epicurus), i. 93
Hesiod, L 41 ; iL 159; iii. 44
Hesperides, iiL 44
He-'peros, ii. 53
Hestia, ii. 67
Hiero (tyrant of Syracuse 478-467
B.C.), i. 60
Hippocentaur, i. 105 ; ii. 5
Hippocrates (fl- 400 b.c), iiL 91
Hippolytus, iii. 76
Hipponax (of Ephesus, late 6th
cent. B.C, invented5c«i07iorlimp-
ing iambus, satirized scnlptors
Bupalus and Atlienis \n1io had
caricatured him), iii. 91
391
INDEX TO DE NATURA DEORUM
Homer, i. 41 ; ii. 70, 165 ; ilL 11, 41
Honor, ii. 61 ; iii. 47, 61
hormai (impulses of will), ii. 58
Hyades, ii. 111
Hyperion, iii. 54
lalysus, iii. 54
iambus. See nii ponax
lanus, ii. 67
lason (tyrant of Pherae in Thessaly,
assa:-sinated 370 b c), iii. 70
ibis, i. 82, 101 ; ii. 120 ; iii. 47
iclineumon, i. 101
Idyia, iii. 48
imagines, i. 29, 49, 73, lCGff., 120;
ii. 76
India, i, 88, 97
Indus, greatest of rivers, ii. 130
Ino (sea goddess, gave Odysseus
veil on wbich he floated after
sbipwreck, Od. v. 833 ff.), iii. 48
intermundia, i. 18
Iris, iii. 51
Isis, iii. 47
isjnomia, i. 50, 109
luno, i. 82 ; ii. 66
lupiter, derivation, ii. 64 ; Stoic,
the supreme law, i. 40 ; tbe sky,
ii. 4, 65, 119 ; Capitolinus, i.
82 ; Hammon, i. 82 ; planet, ii.
119 ; Olympian, iii. 83 ; source
of dreams, iii. 95 ; three Jupiters,
iii. 53
luventus (Hebe), i. 112
KvoBOfi = chronos, ii. 64
kyk!os, ii. 47
Kyriai Doxai, i. 85
Labor, iii. 44
Laelius (C. Sapiens, friend of
younger Afrieanus, and chief
speaker in De Amicitia), ii. 165 ;
iii. 5, 43
liatona, iii. 46, 57 f.
Leda, iii. 53
Lemnos, i. 119; iii. 55
Leontium (pupil of Epicurus), i. 94
Lencippus (atomic physicist, fore-
runner of Democritus, date un-
certain), i. 66
Leucothea (epithet of Ino), iii. 39,
48
Liber, ii. 00, 62; iii. 41, 63
392
Libera, ii. 63
Libya, iii. 24
liver, ii. 11.7; iii. 14
Locri, ii. 6 ; iii. 11, 83
Lubentina (or Libitina, a form of
Venus, and goddess of death
because deaths were registered in
her temple at Rome), ii. 61
Lucifer, ii. 53 ; iii. 51
Lucilius(satirist, 148-103 B.C.), i. 64
Luclna, ii. 68
Luna, ii. 68 ; iii. 51, 58
Lutatius (C. Lutalius, defeated
Carthaginian fleet off Aegates
islands and ended Ist Punic war,
241 B.c), ii. 165
Lyceum (shrine at Athens, its
grove, peripatos, the resort of
Aiistotle), i. 72
Lycurgus (lawgiver of Sparta), iii.
91
Lysithoe, iiL 42
viachina, dev,s ex, i. 53
magi, i. 43
Mala Fortuna, iii. 63
man, image of God, i. 90; noblest
work of God, ii. 133 ff.; world
made for, ii. 154 ff. ; belittled, ii.
17, 34ff., 79; bodily structure,
ii. 134 ff., 139 ff.
rnanfike, i. 55
Marcellus, M. (defeated Gauls at
Clastidium 222 b.c, be.^^iegt^d
SjTacuse in 2nd Punic war, ftdl
at Venusia 208 b.c), ii. 61, 165 ;
iii. 80
Marius, C. (democratic leader, 157-
86 B.c), iii. 80 f.
Mars, ii. 53, 67, 119; iii. .59, 62
Maso (C. Papirius, defeated Corsi-
cans 2^1 B.C.), iii. 52
iii. 29f.,92
Mavors,' etymology of, ii. 67 ; iii.
62
Medea, iii. 48 ; Medfa of Ennius,
iii. 65 f., 75 ; of Accius, ii. 89 ;
iii. 67
Melete, iii. 54
' meuses ' from m^nsa, ii. 69
MfTCury, iii. 56 ff.
Metcllus (consul 250 B.c), ii. 265;
bis murder(otherwiseunknown),
iii. 81
INDEX TO DE NATURA DEORUM
Metrodorus (Epicunis's most dis-
tiuguished pupil, d. 277 B.C.), i.
86, i>3, 113
mind in matter, i. 25 f. ; ii. 18, 58,
61 ; iii. 47, 61, 88
Minerva, i. 81, 83, 100; ii. 67; iii.
53, 55, 59, 63
Miseria, iii. 44
Mnemosyne, iii. 54
mole, i. 79 f.
Moneta, iii. 47
vionogrammos deos, ii. 59
moou, ii. 19, 50, 103, 119
Mopsus, ii. 7
Musae, iii. 45, 54, 88
Musaeas (mythical poet), i. 41
mysteries, i. 119 ; ii. 62 ; iii. 58
mythology, personitication of
natural forces, ii. 62 ; popular,
rldiculed, ii. 70; iii. 11, 16
nature, blind force of Epicurus and
New Academy, i. 35, 53 ; ii. 43,
76, 81 f. ; iii. 27 f. ; rational, of
Stoics, ii. 36 ff., 57, 76; sur-
passes art, i. 92; ii. 35, 57 f., 82
ff. ; deification of forces of, ii. 63
Naus'phanes (teacher of Epicurus),
i. 73, 93
Navius. Sea Attus
Decessity = God, i. 39; opposed to
reason, ii. 76 f., 88
Neptune, i. 40 ; ii. 60, 66, 71 ; iii.
43, 52, 62, 64, 76
Nilus, ii. 130 ; iii. 42, 54, 56, 58 f.
Nisus (nursed infant Bacchus), iii.
58
Nodinus (unknown stream near
Rome), iii. 52
Nomios {nomos, law), iii. 57
Numa (second king of Rome), iii.
5, 43
Nymphae, iil. 43
Octavian war(Gn. Octavius, consul
87 B.c, fought for Sulla against
the Marian consul Cinna), ii. 14
Olympias (niother of Alexander the
Great), ii. 69
Ophiuchus ('snake-holder'), ii.
109
Ops (wife of Saturn, goddess of
earth and wealth, had temple on
Capitol), ii. 61 ; iii. 88
optimism of Stoics, ii. 18, 86 f.
Orbona (goddess of bereavement),
iii. 63
Orion, ii. 113 ; iii. 26
optJ.aC (impulses of will), ii. 58
Orpheus, i. 41, 107; iii. 45, 58
orreries, ii. 88
Pacuvius (Roman tragedian, b. o
220 B.C.), iii. 48
Palaemon, iii. 39
Pallas, father of Minerva, iiL 59
Pamphilus, teacher of Epicurus, i.
72
Pan, iii. 56
Panaetius (of Rhodes, 180-111 b.o.,
eclectic Stoic, friend of Scipio,
wrote Ilepl ToO KaOrjKovTO^;, tlie
basis of Cicero's De Officlis), ii.
118
Panisci, iii. 43
pantheism ridiculed, 1. 25, 52 t
panther, i. 88 ; ii. 126
Parcae (the fates), iii. 44
Paris, iii. 91
Parmenides (idealist philosopher
of Elea, 5th cent. b.c, pupil
of Xenophanes, wrote didactic
poem On Kature, frags. extant),
i. 28
Pasiphae, iii. 48
Paulus (L. Aemilius Macedonicus,
defeated Perses, last king of
Macedon, at Pydna, 168 b.c), ii.
6, 165; his father defeated at
Cannae (by Hannibal, 216 b.c),
iii. 80
Peducaea rogatio, iii. 74
Pelops, iii. 53
Penates, etymology of, ii. 68
Penelopa, iii. 56
Peripatetics, i. 16
Persaeus, Stoic philosopher, i. 38
Perseis, daughter of Oceanus, iil.
48
Persephone, ii. 66
Perses. See Paullus
Pertinacia, iii. 44
pessimism of Epicurus, L 23
Academic, iii. 79 f.
Phaedo, i. 93 ; iii. 82 (n.)
Phaedrus(head of Epicurean school,
d. 70 B.c ), i. 93
Phaenon = S&tuTn, ii. 62
S93
INDEX TO DE NATURA DEORUM
Phaxthon, ii. 52 ; iii. 76
Plialaris (tyrant of Agrigenturu
560-540 B.c), iii. S2
Pheneaiae (Arcadian tribe), iii.
5(5
Philo (foander of New Academy,
teacher of Cicero), L 6, 11, 17, 59,
113
Philodemus, i. 45, 49
pbilosophy, value of, i. 6 f. ; ii. 1,
3, 168 ; four schools of, i, 16
Phosphoros, ii. 53
Plithas, iii. 65
physicists, the early, their theology
refuted, i. 25 ff.
physiology, human, ii. 134 fir.
Pierides, Pierus, iii. 54
Pisistratus (three times tyrant of
Athens, d. 527 B.c), iii. 82
Piso (M. Pupius Calpurnius, consul
61 B.c, expounder of Peripatetic
system in De Finibus v.), i. 16
planets, ii. 51 f.
Plato on creation, 1. 19 ff. ; incon-
sistency of, i. 30; 'divine,' ii.
32 ; Timaeus, i. 19 ; Phaedo, iii. 82
Pluto, ii. 66
poiotes, ii. 96
Portunus, ii. 66
Posid n ius (eclectic Stoic at Rhodes,
where Cicero attended his
lectures), i. 6, 123 ; ii. SS
Postumius, Aulus (dictator in early
republic), iii. 13
probability, i. 12
Prodicus (of Ceos, b. 470 B.c,
sophist at Athens), i. 118
progress {wrokope), iii. 79
prolepsis, i. 43
pronoia, i. 18, 20 ; ii. 58, 73, 160
Proserpine, iii. 79
Protagoras(of Abdera, 490-415 b.c,
sophist, banished from Athens
for impiety), i. 2, 20, 63
providence, proved, ii. 73-153 ; in
structure of world, ii. 154 ff. ; re-
futed, iiL 65 ff. ; care for indi-
vidual men, iL 164 ff. ; refuted,
iii. 79 ff.
Punic war, first (264-242 b.c), ii.
71 ; second (218-202 B.c), iL 65
Pyrrhus (king of Epirus, at war
with Rome inltaly, 280-276 B,c),
iL 165
394
Pythagoras (born 529 b.c at Samo,%
taught at Crotona in Italy,
founded religious brotherhood),
i. 10, 74, 107 ; iiL 88
qualitas, ii. 96
Querella, iiL 44
rationality of universe, ii. 16 ff,
reason, human, ii. 157 ; not neces-
sarily beneflcial, iii. 70 ff.
Regillus (lake in Latium, where
Romans defeated Latins, 498
B.C.), ii. 6
Regulus (hero of Ist Punic war),
ii. 80
' religio,* etymology of, iii. 72
Rhesus (son of a Muse and of
Strymon the king and river of
Thrace), iii. 45
Romulus, founder of augury, ii. 9 ;
iii. 5 ; deification of, ii. 62 ; iii. 39
Roscius (actor), i. 79
rotation the divine motion, ii. 99 ff.
Rutilius {lcgatus in Asia, exiled on
false char^e of peculation, c. 98
B.c), iii. 80, 86
Sabazius (identified with Dionysus),
iii, 58
Sagra (small river in S, Italy, scene
of victory of Locrian settleii
over Crotona, c. 5G0 B.c), ii. 6
Salaria (via), iii. 11
Samothrace (island in N. Aegean,
seat of Cabeiric mystery ritual),
iL 6
Saturn, etymology of name, iL 64 ;
iii. 53, 02 ; worship of, iii. 44 ;
the planet, ii. 52, 119
Scaevola, P. (consul 123 B,a), L 115 ;
iii. 5
Scaevola, Q. (son of above, assassi-
nated 82 b.c), iii. 80
Scaurus (163-'J0 B.c,leader of Opti-
mates), ii. 61
scepticism, L 1, 63, 117 ; justified,
L 10 ff.
Scipio, P. Cornelius Africanus
Major, ii. 165 ; Minor (his muider
foretold by prodigies, 129 b,c,),
ii. 14 ; iii. 80
Scipio, P. Comelius Nasica (consul
162 B.c), iL 10; liL 5
INDEX TO DE NATURA DEORUM
i
Soipio, P. and Cn. (brotliers, fell in
ypaiu 212 B.c), iii. 80
seuse organs, mau's, ii. 140 S.
Septentriones, IL 105, 109 f.
Seraii.s, iii. 47
Sei iphus (one of Cyclades islands),
i. bS
Sibyllae, ii. 10 ; iii. 5
si,j;ht, theory of, ii. 88, 144 f.
SilvaiiUs, ii. 89
Simonide.s (lyric poet of Ceos, 550-
470 B.C.), at courtof Hiero, tyrant
of Syracuse, i. 60
Socrates, i. 95
'sol,' ii. 66
Sosius (unknown), iii. 74
Sospita (Juno 'the saviour'),
temple of, at Lanuvium, i. 82
('squUof man, i. 27, 91 ; ii. 18, 79 ;
^ mT 12; of the world. i. 25 ff. . 36
fif. ; ii. 24 gr. ' 57 ; i iL 28 tC
sound, li. }j!i," 144, 1^67149
Sparta, iL 165 ; iii. 91
speech, organs of, ii. 148 ff.
Speusippus (nepbew of Plato), i. 33
sphaera, ii. 47, 55 ; (orrery) ii, 88, 97
splierical forra divine, iL 45 ff.
spider, ii. 123
Spino, a river (unknown), iiL 52
stars, divine, ii. 39 ; motions of, iL
51 ff., 103
Stephane of Parmenides, i. 28
stcremnia, i. 49
Stoics, i. 4 ; iii. 77 ; theology re-
futed, i. 36 ff. ; defended, ii.
Strato (became head of Lyceum,
2S7 B.c), i. 35
Stratonicus (Athenian musician in
time of Alexander), iii. 50
8un, iL 29, 40 ff., 79, 102, 118 f. ;
iii. 37 ; mock suns, ii. 14
'superstitio,' etymo.ogy of, ii. 72
swerve of atoms, i. 69
Syrian fish-worship, iiL 39
Tantalidae, iii. 90
teuth, iL 127, 134 ; iiL 57
Teilus, iii. 52
Terence quoted, ii. 60 ; iii. 72 f.
Tliaumas, iii. 51
TheLxinoe, iii. 54
Theodorus (Cyrenaic philosopher,
end of 4th cent. b.c), L 2, 63,
117
theophanies denied, iii. 11 ff.
Tlieuphrastus (succeeded Aristotle
as head of Lyceura, d. 278 b.c),
i. 35
Theseus, iii. 45, 76
Tlieuth, iii. 56
Thyestes (brotlier of Atreus), iii.
68
Thyone (name of deified Semele,
motlier of Dionysus), iii. 58
Tiberinus (deity of river Tiber), iiL
52
tides, ii. 19 ; iii. 23 f.
Timocrates (pupil of Epicurus), L
93
Tiresias (mythical bliud seer), ii. 7
transubstantiation, iii. 41
Trasimene (Etruscan lake near
Perusia), ii. 8
Trieterides (biennial festival at
Thebes), iii. 58
Triton, i. 78 ; ii. 89
Trophonius (built t«mple of Delphi,
after death worshipped as hero
and had oracular cave in Boeotia),
iii. 49, 56
Tubulus (praetor 142 b.c), L 63;
iii. 74
Tyndaridae, iii 11
Ulixes, iL 166
undogmatic theology defended, L
10 f.
Upis, iiL 58
Uranus. See Caelus
Valens Cltrvu?, son of Elatus), iiL
56
Varius (tribune 91 b.c., tool of
Equites against Drusus), his
death (otherwise unknown), iii. 81
vegetarianism, ii. 159 ; iii. 88
Veiovis (ancient Sabine and Latin
god), iii. 62
Venus, ii. 60 f., 69 (etymology) ; iiL
62 ; four of the name, iiL 57
Vesta, iL 67, 80
Victoria, iL 61 ; iii. 61, 88
Victoriolae, iii. 84
Vulcan, L 81, 83 f. ; iii. 64 t, 69,
62
weazel, ii. 17
Wolf-god in Egypt, iii. 47
395
INDEX TO DE NATURA DEORUM
Xenocrates (39^1 -314 b.c, third
head of Academy), i. 34, 72
X*^nophanes (c. 576-480 b.c, born
at Colophon, poet, founder of
Eleatic school of philcsophy), i. 28
Xenophon, i. 31 ; ii. 18 Qfemora-
bilia quoted) ; iii. 27
Xerxes, i. 115
Zeno the Eleatic (pupil of Par-
menides, died in attempting to
put down tyranny at Elea), iii.
82
Zeno, the Epicurean (b. at Sidon),
i. 59
Zeno, the founder of Stoicism (b.
at Citium in Cyprus 3rd ceiit.
B.c. ad fin.), i. 36, 57, 63, 70; ii,
20, 57, 63 ; iii. 18, 22, 63, 77
zodiao, ii. 53
39t>
ACADEMICA
l
ACADEMICA
INTRODUCTION
Dates of Composition and Revision. — In Cicero*s
letters to Atticus written during the summer of
45 B.c, when he was in retirement from public Hfe
(see p. xi), there are many references to his work
on this treatise. Writing from Astura on May 13,
and alluding to the death of his daughter, he says :
* Ego hic duo magna o-vrray/xaTa absolvi ; nullo enim
aho modo a miseria quasi aberrare possum ' (Att.
xii. 45. 1). On May 29, he writes from Tusculum
(Ait. xiii. 32. 3) : * Torquatus Romaest ; misi ut tibi
daretur. Catulum et Lucullum ut opinor antea ;
his hbris nova prohoemia sunt addita quibus eorum
uterque laudatur.' Here ' Torquatus ' means the
first two books of De Finihus, and * Catuhis ' the
first and * Lucullus ' the second book of Academica
In its first shape ; so it is the latter treatise, and not
De Finihus I. and II., that is probably referred to by
the modest expression in the preceding quotation
* two big compilations.' We infer that Academica
in its first form was so far finished by the latter half
of May that a copy was sent to Atticus, new prefaces
being added a httle later. Cicero refers to the treatise
INTRODUCTION TO ACADEMICA
as * Illam ^A/<aS7y/xtK'/)v a-vyTa^Lv * (^Att. xiii. 6. 1),
but the two volumes were actually named Catulus
and Lucullus, after the leading interlocutors in
each. Hortensius also figured in Catulus, and Cicero
in both.
But Cicero was not satisfied with his work as it
stood, and began at once to revise it, impro^-ing the
style and making the treatment more concise : he
also di\ided the two volumes into four. He writes
of these alterations with great satisfaction (Att. xiii.
13. 1 , June 26) : ' ex duobus hbris contuh in quattuor :
grandiores sunt omnino quam erant iUi, sed tamen
multa detracta.' Also (Att. xiii. 12. 3) Atticus seems
to have suo-s^ested that a hterarv comphment was
due to Varro, who had promised to dedicate an
important work to Cicero (this was his De Lingua
Latina) ; and Cicero writes that although two years
had passed without Varro's having got on a yard
with the work (* adsiduo cursu cubitum nullum pro-
cesserit '), he has decided to transfer to him the
dedication of Academica, and to postpone paying
a comphment to Catulus, Lucullus and Hortensius,
* homines nobiles ilh quidem sed nullo modo philo-
logi ' (ibid.), in fact, well known, not indeed for
o.TraLSevcTLa (want of education), but for arpLxj/La
(lack of special training) in these subjects (^Att.
xiii. 13. 1).
CoNTENTS. — In Cicero's encyclopaedia of philosophy
Academica is the article on Epistemology, the theory
of knowledge. In his earher draft of the work, in
Book L, Catulus, the scepticism of Carneades (Middle
Academy) and his doctrine of ' probabihty ' were
400
INTRODUCTION TO ACADEMICA
expounded by Catulus ; Hortensius countered with
the dogmatism of Antiochus (Old Academy), and
Cicero put the case of Philo (Middle Academy),
that ' probability ' is consistent with Platonism. In
Book II., Lucullus, Luculhis defended the cause
of Antiochus by attacking Scepticism, and then
Scepticism was defended by Cicero. In the second
echtion Cicero and Varro were the sole interlocutors ;
Cicero championed the Middle Academy as well
as the New, and the Old Academy was assigned to
Varro.
It is to this second edition that Cicero refers in his
letters in all allusions to the work after the alteration
was made ; its title was now Academica, though he
also describes it as * Academici hbri.' But he seems
not to have succeeded in entirely suppressing the
first edition ; and by a curious accident the second
half of the first edition has come do^vn to us, while
of the second edition only the first quarter and a few
fragments of the remainder have survived. We
therefore have only three quarters of the whole work,
and only one quarter of it in the form finally author-
ized by the -vvriter. Some modern editors have
designated the extant part of Edition I. ' Academica
Priora * and that of Edition II. * Academica
Posteriora,' but so far as I know the significance
intended to be conveyed by the adjectives in those
titles has no classical authority.
The position can be most clearly exhibited in
tabular form ; the parts of the editions that are not
now extant and the names of the speakers in those
parts are printed in italics :
401
INTRODUCTION TO ACADEMICA
SUBJECTS.
Expo
KEKTS.
Ed. I.
Ed. II.
C Catulus ')
(' Academica,
Liber I.')
Carneades'8 scepticism :
Catulus.
' Prohability.^
Antiochus's dogmatism.
Hortensius.
Varro.
PhUo's ' Probability
Cicero.
Cicero.
Platonic'
(Liber II.)
Carneades^s scepticism.
Cicero.
Antiochus's polemic
against scepticism.
Defence of scepticism.
(• Lucullus.') (Liber III.)
LucuUus. Varro.
Cicero.
{Liher IV.)
Cicero.
Dramatis Personae. — Q. Lutatius Catulus, a dis-
tinguished leader of the aristocracy, was consul \vith
Lepidus in 78 b.c, when he resisted his colleague's
efforts to abrogate the acts of SuUa, and next year
defeated him in the battle of the Milvian Bridge.
He opposed the conferment of extraordinary powers
on Pompey in 67 and 6G, and was censor with Crassus
in 65. He died in 60. There is no e\-idence that he
was interested in philosophy. In the dialogue he
professes merely to put forward the views of his
father, the famous colleague of Marius. The elder
Catulus was a man of great culture and learning,
but Cicero could not introduce him into the dialogue
for reasons of chronology : he died in 87, committing
suicide to escape the proscription of Marius.
L. Licinius Lucullus (c. 110-57 b.c.) was also a
402
INTRODUCTION TO ACADEMICA
siipporter of Sulla, and was famous as the conqueror
of Slithridates. He was superseded in his command
by Pompey in 66, and gradually withdrew from public
hfe. He had amassed great wealth on his Asiatic
campaigns, and was famous for the splendour of his
estabhshments. He had Hterary tastes and was a
generous patron of letters.
Q. Hortensius (114-50 b.c.) made a career and a
fortune by his oratorical abihty . An adherent of Sulla
and the aristocratic party, he was consul in 69 ; but
in the previous year the trial of Verres for peculation
in Sicily had transferred the primacy in oratory from
Verres' defender, Hortensius, to his prosecutor,
Cicero. Hortensius was an opponent of Pompey,
and on Pompey's coahtion with Crassus and Caesar
in 60 he retired from poHtics.
M. Terentius Varro (116-28 b.c.) was the most
learned of scholars and the most encyclopaedic of
WTiters. His works included agriculture, grammar,
rehgious and political antiquities, biography, philo-
sophy, geography and law ; some parts of his books
on the first two subjects alone survive. He also had
a pubHc career ; he held naval command against the
pirates and against Mithridates, and he supported
Pompey in the civil war, but after PharsaHa Caesar
forgave him, and employed his talents in collecting
books for a great pubHc Hbrary.
The Imagixary Date of the dialogues in the first
edition falls between 63 b.c, the year of Cicero's
consulship (aUuded to Ac. ii. 62), and 60, when
Catulus died. The scene of the first conversation
(now lost) was the sea-side villa of Catulus at Cumae,
west of Naples ; that of the second (our Academica II.),
a day later, is Hortensius's villa at BauH, a Httle
403
INTRODUCTION TO ACADEMICA
place on the Gulf of Puteoli (Pozzuoli), just east of
Cumae. In the second edition the scene is laid at
Varro's villa near the Lucrine Lake, the enclosed
recess of the Gulf of PuteoU. The imaginary date
is near the actual time of composition in 45 b.c.
(' nuper,' Ac. i. 1).
SouRCES OF AcADEMiCA. — Ciccro frequcntly states
that his arguments for dogmatism are those of his old
teacher, Antiochus of Ascalon ; and it is pretty clear
that he merely transcribed them from some book or
books of this authority. For dramatic effect, at
Ac. ii. 11 f. he makes Lucullus profess to be producing
arguments from his recollection of discussions in
which Antiochus had taken part ; but there is no
doubt that actually he is writing with a book of
Antiochus in front of him, probably Sosus (see Ac. ii.
12 note), a dialogue in which Antiochus combated
his old teacher Philo.
The arguments in defence of scepticism come
partly from a work of Philo tvn.ce referred to, though
not by its name {Ac. 1. 13, ii. 11) : this doubtless
suppUed Cicero with the historical justification of
the New Academy which concludes Book L, and
probably also with the historical references with
which he begins his speech that ends the work
(Ac. ii. 66-78). The destructive arguments that
these follow are very hkely taken from Chtomachus,
who succeeded Carneades as head of the New Academy
in 129 B.c. The constructive doctrines of Carneades
that come next are drawn from two works of Chto-
machus mentioned by their names (ii. 98, 103) ; and
the historical passage that concludes is doubtless also
from Chtomachus, who wrote a book Ilept AlpecrciDV
(Diogenes Laertius ii. 92).
404
INTRODUCTION TO ACADEMICA
Manuscripts. — Scholars range the mss. of Academtca
I. in two famihes, derived from two archetypes of the
twelfth century or older. Of the former family, one
Ms., ' codex Puteanus,' Parisinus 6331 (which con-
tains De Finihus also), is placed by recent critics in
the twelfth century, and several mss. related to it
belong to the fourteenth or fifteenth century. Of
the latter family, all are fourteenth or fifteenth
century. In the present edition only a few specially
interesting variants are given, the readings of
Puteanus being quoted as P, but the other mss.
not being distinguished.
Academica II. is contained in the same mss. as
De Natura Deorum, for which see p. xviii.
Editions. — J. S. Reid's edition of 1884 (London) is
a most valuable resource ; it contains an exhaustive
introduction and commentary.
The newest text is that of Plasberg (Teubner,
Leipzig, 1922). In this the evidence for the text is
fuUy set out ; also the preface gives in full all the
passages in Cicero's Letters that refer to Academica,
and a valuable study of the relation between Cicero's
two editions.
Literary students will also be grateful to Mr. Plasberg
for two quotations that grace the back of his title-page —
one from Pliny {Nat. Hist. xxxi. 6) which shows that Cicero
actually named his villa at Puteoli (Pozzuoli) ' Academia,'
and the other from Copernicus, vvriting to Pope Paul III.
in 1543 and saying that the earhest suggestion which he had
seen that the eartii is in motion was a statement that he
quotes from Cicero (viz. Ac. ii. 123).
H. 11.
1932.
405
CICERO, AD FAMILIARES, IX. vin.
CicERO Varroni
1 Etsi munus flagitare, quamvis quis ostenderit,
ne populus quidem solet nisi concitatus, tamen ego
exspectatione promissi tui moveor ut admoneam te,
non ut fiagitem. Misi autem ad te quattuor admoni-
tores non nimis verecundos — nosti enim profecto os
huius adulescentioris Academiae — ex ea igitur media
excitatos misi, qui metuo ne te forte flagitent, ego
autem mandavi ut rogarent. Exspectabam omnino
iam diu. meque sustinebam ne ad te prius ipse quid
scriberem quam aliquid accepissem, ut possem te
remunerari quam simillimo munere. Sed cum tu
tardius faceres, id est (ut ego interpretor) diligen-
tius, teneri non potui quin coniunctionem studiorum
amorisque nostri quo possem litterarum genere decla-
rarem. Feci igitur sermonem inter nos habitmii in
*• Munus denotes specially a gladiatorial show.
^ \'arro had proniised to dedicate to Cicero his treatise
De Lingua Latina, at which he was now working.
'^ The four volumes of Academica, second edition, of which
the first volume forms Book I. of the extant text.
^ This hints at the ' young-mannishness ' and self-assertion
of the New Academy.
40()
LETTER DEDICATING SECOND EDITION
TO VARRO
ClCERO TO VaRRO
1 EvEN the public, unless stirred up to do so, does not
as a rule actually demand a gift,** although some-
body has held out an offer of one ; yet in my case
eagerness for the present that you promised ^ prompts
me to send you, not a demand, but a reminder. But
the four emissaries that I am sending to remind you ^
are not excessively modest ones — for no doubt you are
acquainted vA\S\ the ' cheek ' of this junior '^ Academy
— well, it is from the very heart of that School that
my messengers have been summoned ; and I am
afraid that they may perhaps present a demand to
you, although my instructions to them are to make a
request. Anyway I have now been a long time wait-
ing and keeping myself from \VTiting anything to you
on my side before I had received something from
you, so as to have the opportunity of making you as
nearly as possible a repayment in kind. But as you
have been acting rather slowly, that is (as I construe
it) rather carefully, I have been unable to keep
myself from making pubhc, in such Hterary form as
was within my powers, the community of studies and
of affection that unites us, I have accordingly com-
posed a dialogue, held between us at my place at
407
CICERO
Cumano, cum esset una Pomponius ; tibi dedi partes
Antioehinas, quas a te probari intellexisse mihi vide-
bar, mihi sumpsi Philonis. Puto fore ut cum legeris
mirere nos id locutos esse inter nos quod numquam
2 locuti sumus ; sed nosti morem dialogorum. Posthac
autem, mi Varro, quam plurima si videtur et de
nobis inter nos ; sero fortasse, sed superiorum tem-
porum fortuna rei publicae causam sustineat, haec
ipsi praestare debemus. Atque utinam quietis tem-
poribus atque aliquo si non bono at saltem certo statu
civitatis haec inter nos studia exercere possemus !
quamquam tum quidem vel aliae quaepiam rationes
honestas nobis et curas et actiones darent ; nunc
autem quid est sine his cur vivere veHmus ? mihi
vero cum his ipsis vix, his autem detractis ne vix
quidem. Sed haec coram et saepius. Migrationem
et emptionem fehciter evenire volo, tuumque in ea
re consilium probo. Cura ut valeas.
" What Cicero refers to is not recorded.
408
ACADEMICA : Dedicatory LE-rrER
Cumae, with Pomponius as one of the party ; I have
cast you for the part of champion of Antiochus, who-^e
doctrine I think I have understood you to approve of,
while I have taken the role of Philo myself. When
you read it I fancy you will be surprised at our holding
a conversation that never actually took place ; but
2 you know the convention as to dialo^ues. On some
later occasion, my dear Varro, we will if you think fit
have a very full talk together about our personal
affairs as well ; too late, perhaps, but let the destiny
of the commonwealth bear the responsibility for
the days that are past, it is our duty to answer
for the present. And would that we had the
power to carry on these joint studies in a period of
tranquillity, and with the affairs of state settled in
some definite if not satisfactory manner ! although in
that case indeed perhaps certain other interests would
aiford us honourable subjects of thought and honour-
able fields of action ; whereas now without our
present studies what reason have we to wish to
be alive? For my own part, even with them scarcely
any, but if they be taken from me, not even scarcely !
But we ^\dll discuss this when we meet, and re-
peatedly. I hope the move and the sale ° are turning
out a success : I approve of your policy in that
business. Good-bye,
409
ACADEMICA
LIBER PRIMUS
(editio posterior)
1 I. In Cumano nuper cum mecum Atticus noster
esset, nuntiatum est nobis a M. Varrone venisse eura
Roma pridie vesperi et nisl de via fessus esset con-
tinuo ad nos venturum fuisse. Quod cimi audisse-
mus, nullam moram interponendam putavimus quin
videremus hominem nobiscum et studiis eisdem et
vetustate amicitiae coniunctum ; itaque confestim ad
eum ire perreximus, paulumque cum ab^ eius villa
abessemus ipsum ad nos venientem vidimus ; atque
illum complexi ut mos amicorum est, satis eum longo
2 intervallo ad suam villamreduximus. Hic pauca primo
atque ea percontantibus nobis ecquid forte Roma
novi ; tum^ Atticus " Omitte ista, quae nec percon-
tari nec audire sine molestia possumus, quaeso," in-
quit, " et quaere potius ecquid ipse novi ; silent enim
diutius Musae Varronis quam solebant, nec tamen
^ ab inseruit Wesenherg.
* tum inseruit Reid.
" This Book as we have it belongs to the second edition
of Cicero's work, and is therefore entitled Academica
Posteriora by some editors.
410
ACADEMICA
BOOK 1«
ANTIOCHUS's DOGMATISM V. PHILO's * PROBABILITY *
1 I. Mv friend Atticus was stayinff with me latelv at introduc-
' 1 , r-i 1 ' tion. Scens
my country-place at Lumae, wnen a message came of the
to us from Marcus Varro's house that he had arrived «iiaiog^ie-
from Rome on the evening of the day before, and if
not fatigued from the journey intended to come
straight on to us. On hearing this, we thought that
no obstacle must intervene to delay our seeing a
person united to us by identity of studies as well as by
old friendship ; so we hastily set out to go to him,
and were only a short distance from his country-
house when we saw him coming towards us in person.
\Ve gave our Varro a friend's embrace, and after a
fairly long interval we escorted him back to his own
2 house. Here there was first a Httle conversation, and
that arising out of my asking whether Rome hap-
pened to have been doing anything new ; and then
Atticus said, " Do pray drop those subjects, about
which we can neither ask questions nor hear the
answers without distress ; inquire of him Instead
whether he himself has done anything new. For
Varro's Muses have kept silent for a longer time than
they used, but all the same my behef is that your
^ 4J1
CICERO
istum cessare sed celare quae scribat existimo."
" Minime vero," inquit ille, " intemperantis enim
arbitror esse scribere quod occultari velit ; sed habeo
opus magnum in manibus, idque* iam pridem ; ad
bunc enim ipsum " — me autem dicebat — " quae-
dam institui, quae et sunt magna sane et limantur
3 a me politius." Et ego " Ista quidem " inquam
" Varro, iam diu exspectans non audeo tamen flagi-
tare ; audivi enim e Libone nostro (cuius nosti
studium) — nihil enim eum eius modi celare possumus
— non te ea intermittere sed accuratius tractare nec
de manibus imiqudm deponere. Illud autem mihi
ante hoc tempus numquam in mentem venit a te
requirere, sed nunc postea quam sum ingressus res
eas quas tecum simul didici mandare monumentis,
philosophiamque veterem illam a Socrate ortam
Latinis litteris illustrare, quaero quid sit cur cum
multa scribas hoc genus praetermittas, praesertim
cum et ipse in eo excellas et id studium totaque ea
res longe ceteris et studiis et artibus antecedat."
4 II. Tima ille : " Ilem a me saepe dehberatam et
multum agitatam requiris ; itaque non haesitans re*
spondebo sed ea dicam quae mihi sunt in promptu,
quod ista ipsa de re multum, ut dixi, et diu cogitavi.
^ idque Christ : que vel quae codd.
• Varro's De Lingua Latina, see Introduction p. 400.
412
ACADEMICA, I. i.— ii.
friend is not taking a holiday but is hiding what he
writes." " Oh no, certainly not," said Varro, " for I
think that to put in writing what one wants to be
kept hidden is sheer recklessness ; but I have got a
big task in hand, and have had for a long time : I
have begun on a work^ dedicated to our friend here
himself " — meaning me — " which is a big thing I can
assure you, and which is getting a good deal of
3 touching up and pohshing at my hands." At this I
said, " As to that work of yours, \"arro, I have been
waiting for it a long time now, but all the same I don't
venture to demand it ; for I have heard (since we
cannot hide anything of that kind) from our friend
Libo, an enthusiastic student as you know% that you
are not leaving it off, but are giving it increased
attention, and never lay it out of your hands. How-
ever, there is a question that it has never occurred to
me to put to you before the present moment, but
now, after I have embarked on the task of placing
upon record the doctrines that I have learnt in
common with you, and of expounding in Latin hterary
form the famous old system of philosophy that took
its rise from Socrates, I do put the question why,
though you wTite a great deal, you pass over this
class of subject, especially when you yourself are
distinguished in it, and also when this interest and
this whole subject far outstrip all other interests and
other sciences ? "
4 II. " The question that you ask," rejoined Varro, varro
" is one which I have often pondered and considered phuisophl*
deeply. And so I will not beat about the bush in ^ai author-
my reply, but will say what at once occurs to me, Greeks.
because I have, as I said, thought much and long
upon the very point that you raise. For as I saw that
P 413
CICERO
Nam cum philosophiam viderem diligentissime
Graecis litteris explicatam, existima\i si qui de nostris
eius studio tenerentur, si essent Graecis doctrinis
eruditi, Graeca potius quam nostra lecturos ; sin a
Graecorum artibus et disciplinis abhorrerent, ne haec
quidem curaturos quae sine eruditione Graeca intel-
legi non possunt ; itaque ea nolui scribere quae nec
indocti intellegere possent nec docti legere curarent.
6 Vides autem (eadem enim ipse didicisti) non posse
nos Amafini aut Rabiri similes esse, qui nulla arte ad-
hibita de rebus ante oculos positis vulgari sermone dis-
putant, nihil definiunt, nihil partiuntur, nihil apta in-
terrogatione concludunt, nullam denique artem esse
nec dicendi nec disserendi putant. Nos autem prae-
ceptis dialecticorum et oratorum etiam, quoniam
utramque vim virtutem esse nostri putant, sic parentes
ut legibus, verbis quoque no\ds cogimur uti,quae docti,
ut dixi, a Graecis petere malent, indocti ne a nobis
quidem accipient, ut frustra omnis suscipiatur labor.
6 lam vero physica, si Epicurum, id est si Democritum
probarem, possem scribere ita plane ut Amafinius ;
quid est enim magnum, cum causas rerum efficien-
" Epicurean writers with a large sale ; their works are
now entirely lost. Epicurus himself decried the use of tech-
nical language in philosophy. The speaker here touches
on the three accepted departments of philosophy in their
estabhshed order, Logic, Physics, Ethics, which study re-
spectively the questions, how we know the facts of the
world, what those facts are, and consequently what conduct
will secure our welfare ? ' Physics ' for the ancients has not
the hmited sense that the term bears now, but denotes the
whole of Natural Science, including Biology, which is indeed
specially suggested by the term, as <pvecdaL often means ' to
grow,' of a hving organism.
* Interrogatio is a synonym for ratio, and renders ipibrrjfjia,
414
ACADEMICA, I. ii.
philosophy had been most carefuUy expounded in
Greek treatises, I judged that any persons from our
nation that felt an interest in the subject, if they were
learned in the teachings of the Greeks, would sooner
read Greek \\Titings than ours, and if on the other
hand they shrank from the sciences and systems of
the Greeks, they would not care even for philo-
sophy, which cannot be understood without Greek
learning : and therefore I was unwiUing to WTite
what the unlearned would not be able to understand
and the learned would not take the trouble to read.
5 But you are aware (for you have passed through the Logio
same course of study yourself) that we Academics
cannot be hke Amafinius or Rabirius," who discuss
matters that he open to the view in ordinary language,
\\ithout employing any technicahty and entirely dis-
pensing wdth definition and division and neat syllo-
gistic proof,^ and who in fact beheve that no science
of rhetoric or logic exists. But we for our part while
obeying the rules of the logicians and of the orators
also as if they were laws, for our school considers
each of these faculties a merit, are compelled to
employ novel terms as well, for which the learned, as
I said, will prefer to go to the Greeks, while the un-
learned will not accept them even from us, so that
6 aU our toil will be undertaken in vain. Then as plfsIob,
for natural philosophy, if I accepted the system of
Epicurus, that is of Democritus, I could write about
it as lucidly as Amafinius ; for when once you have
abohshed causation, in the sense of efficient causes,
properly denoting an argument developed in a series of
questions, but also used for any form of proof, d7r6-
Set^ij. Concludere =(jv\\oyi'^€adai^ denoting logical inference,
and specially deduction.
415
CICERO
tiiim^ sustuleris, de corpusculorum (ita enim appellat
atomos) concursione fortuita loqui ? Nostra tu phy-
sica nosti, quae cum contineantur ex efFectione et ex
materia ea quam fingit et format effectio, adhibenda
etiam geometria est ; quam quibusnam quisquam
enuntiare verbis aut quem ad intellegendum poterit
adducere ? Haec^ ipsa de vita et moribus et de
expetendis fugiendisque rebus illi simpliciter, pecudis
enim et hominis idem bonum esse censent, apud
nostros autem^ non ignoras quae sit et quanta subtili-
7 tas : sive enim Zenonem sequare, magnum est
efficere ut quis intellegat quid sit illud verum et
simplex bonum quod non possit ab honestate seiungi,
quod bonum quale sit omnino negat Epicurus se^ sine
voluptatibus sensum moventibus ne suspicari qui-
dem^ ; si vero Academiam veterem persequamur,
quam nos, ut scis, probamus, quam erit illa acute ex-
plicanda nobis ! quam argute, quam obscure etiam
contra Stoicos disserendum ! Totum igitur illud
philosophiae studium mihi quidem ipse sumo et ad
vitae constantiam quantum possum et ad delecta-
tionem animi, nec ullum arbitror, ut apud Platonem
est, maius aut melius a dis datum munus homini.
8 Sed meos amicos in quibus id^ est studium in Grae-
ciam mitto, id est, ad Graecos ire iubeo, ut ex' fonti-
bus potius hauriant quam rivulos consectentur ; quae
^ efficientes Lambinus.
* lacunam ante haec codd. : <ecce> haec Reid.
^ autem Lamhinus : enim codd.
* se inseruit Lamhinus.
• ne suspicari quidem Durand : nec suspicari codd.
" id inseruit Durand.
' ex Halm : ea a codd.
* i.e.^ (with arithmetic) the whole of mathematics so far a3
then discovered. ' Timaeus 47 b.
416
ACADEMICA, I. ii.
what is thcre remarkable in talking about the acci-
dental coUision of minute bodies — that is his name
for atoms ? The natural science of my school
you know ; being a system that combines the
efficient force and the matter \vhich is fashioned and
shaped by the efficient force, it must also bring iii
geometry ^ ; but what terminology, pray, will any-
body have to use in explaining geometry, or whom
^^ill he be able to bring to understand it ? Even this Ethics.
department of ethics and the subject of moral choice
and avoidance that school handles quite simply, for
it frankly identifies the good of man with the good
of cattle, but what a vast amount of what minute
precision the teachers of our school display is not
7 unknown to you. For if one is a follower of Zeno, it
is a great task to make anybody understand the
meaning of the real and simple good that is in-
separable from morahty, because Epicurus entirely
denies that he can even guess what sort of a thing
good is without pleasures that excite the sense ; but
if we should follow the lead of the Old Academy, the
school that I as you know approve, how acutely we
shall have to expound that system I How subtly, how
profoundly even, we shall have to argue against the
Stoics ! Accordingly for my own part I adopt the
great pursuit of philosophy in its entirety both (so
far as I am able) as a guiding principle of Hfe and as
an intellectual pleasure, and I agree with the dictum
of Plato ^ that no greater and better gift has been
8 bestowed by the gods upon mankind. But my friends
who possess an interest in this study I send to Greece,
that is, I bid them go to the Greeks, so that they may
draw from the fountain-heads rather than seek out
mere rivulets ; while doctrines which nobody had
417
CICERO
autem nemo adliuc docuerat nec erat unde studiosi
scire possent, ea quantum potui (nihil enim magno-
pere meorum miror) feci ut essent nota nostris ; a
Graecis enim peti non poterant ac post L. Aelii nostri
occasum ne a Latinis quidem. Et tamen in illis
veteribus nostris quae Menippum imitati, non inter-
pretati, quadam hilaritate conspersimus, multa ad-
mixta ex intima philosophia, multa dicta dialectice ;
quae cum^ facihus minus docti intellegerent iucundi-
tate quadam ad legendum invitati^ in laudationibus,
in his ipsis antiquitatum prooemiis philosophis
scribere voluimus, si modo consecuti sumus."
9 in. Tum ego, " Sunt," inquam, " ista, Varro ;
nam nos in nostra urbe peregrinantis errantisque
tamquam hospites tui hbri quasi domum reduxerunt,
ut possemus ahquando qui et ubi essemus agnoscere.
Tu aetatem patriae, tu discriptiones temporum, tu
sacrorum iura, tu sacerdotum,^ tu domesticam, tu
belhcam disciphnam, tu sedem regionum, locorum,
tu omnium divinarum humanarumque rerum nomina,
genera, officia, causas aperuisti, plurimumque idem
poetis nostris omninoque Latinis et htteris luminis et
verbis attuhsti, atque ipse varium et elegans omni fere
numero poema fecisti, philosophiamque multis locis
1 cum Reid : quo codd.
2 hic interponit lacunam Casauhon.
3 sacerdotum <munera> Lambinus.
" Only fragments are extant of Varro's Menippean Satires.
Menippus was a Cynic philosopher and satirist hving at
Gadara in the middle of the second century b.c.
^ i.e.^ Ethics, see p. 414 note a.
418
ACADEMICA, I. ii.— iii.
been teaching up till now, and for which there was
nobody available from whom those interested could
learn them, I have done as much as lay in my power
(for I have no great admiration for any of my own
achievements) to make them known to our fellow-
countrymen ; for these doctrines could not be ob-
tained from the Greeks, nor from the Latins either
since the demise of our countryman Lucius Aehus.
And nevertheless in those old writers of our country
whom in my imitation " (it is not a translation) of
Menippus I treated with a certain amount of ridicule,
there is a copious admixture of elements derived from
the inmost depths of philosophy,^ and many utter-
ances in good logical form ; and though in my funeral
orations these were more easily intelHgible to less
learned readers if they were tempted to peruse them
by a certain attractiveness of style, when we come to
the prefaces to my Antiquiiies, in these my aim was,
if only I attained it, to write for philosophers."
9 IIL " What you say, Varro, is true," I rejoined, Cicero
" for we were wandering and straying about Hke lIud'^^
visitors in our own city, and your books led us, so to phiiosophy.
speak, right home, and enabled us at last to reahze
who and where we were. You have revealed the age
of our native city, the chronology of its history, the
laws of its religion and its priesthood, its civil and its
military institutions, the topography of its districts
and its sites, the terminology, classification and moral
and rational basis of all our rehgious and secular
institutions, and you have hkewise shed a flood of
hght upon our poets and generally on Latin hterature
and the Latin language, and you liave yourself com-
posed graceful poetry of various styles in almost every
metre, and have sketched an outUne of philosophy
419
CICERO
incohasti,ad impellendumsatis,ad edocendum parum.
10 Causam autem probabilem tu quidem adfers, aut
enim Graeca legere malent qui erunt eruditi, aut ne
haec quidem qui illa nesciunt ; sed da mihi nunc —
satisne probas ? Immo vero et haec qui illa non
poterunt et qui Graeca poterunt non contemnent sua.
Quid enim causae est cur poetas Latinos Graecis
Htteris eruditi legant, philosophos non legant ? An
quia delectat Ennius, Pacuvius, Attius, multi alii, qui
non verba sed vim Graecorum expresserunt poetarum?
Quanto magis philosophi delectabunt, si, ut illi
Aeschylum, Sophoclem, Euripidem, sic hi Platonem
imitentur, Aristotelem, Theophrastum ? Oratores
quidem laudari video, si qui e nostris Hyperidem sint
11 aut Demosthenem imitati. Ego autem (dicam enim
ut res est), dum me ambitio, dum honores, dum
causae, dum rei publicae non solum cura sed quaedam
etiam procuratio multis officiis implicatum et con-
strictum tenebat, haec inclusa habebam, et ne obsole-
scerent renovabam cum licebat legendo ; nunc vero
et fortunae gravissimo percussus vulnere et admini-
stratione rei publicae liberatus doloris medicinam a
philosophia peto et oti oblectationem hanc honestissi-
" The death of his daughter Tullia.
420
ACADEMICA, I. iii.
in many departments that is enough to stimulate
the student though not enough to complete his
10 instruction. But though it is true that the case you
bring forward has some probabihty, as accomphshed
students on the one hand will prefer to read the
Greek wTitings, and on the other hand people who
do not know those will not read these either, still,
tell me now — do you quite prove your point ? The
truth rather is that both those who cannot read the
Greek books will read these and those who can read
the Greek will not overlook the works of their own
nation. For what reason is there why accompUshed
Grecians should read Latin poets and not read Latin
philosophers ? Is it because they get pleasure from
Ennius, Pacuvius, Accius and many others, who have
reproduced not the words but the meaning of the
Greek poets ? How much more pleasure will they
get from philosophers, if these imitate Plato, Aristotle
and Theophrastus in the same way as those poets
imitated Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides ? At
all events I see that any of our orators that have
imitated Hyperides or Demosthenes are praised.
11 But for my own part (for I will speak frankly), so long
as I was held entangled and fettered by the multi-
farious duties of anibition, ofRce, htigation, pohtical
interests and even some poUtical responsibiUty, I used
to keep these studies within close bounds, and reUed
merely on reading, when I had the opportunity,
to revive them and prevent their fading away ; but
now that I have been smitten by a grievously heavy
blow " of fortune and also released from taking part
in the government of the country, I seek from philo-
sophy a cure for my grief and I deem this to be
the most honourable mode of amusing my leisure.
421
CICERO
mam iudico. Aut enim huic aetati hoc maxime aptum
est, aut iis rebus si quas dignas laude gessimus hoc
m primis consentaneum, aut etiam ad nostros cives
erudiendos nihil utiUus, aut si haec ita non sunt, nihil
12 ahud video quod agere possimus. Brutus quidem
noster, excellens omni genere laudis, sic philosophiam
Latinis Htteris persequitur nihil ut iisdem de rebus
Graeca desideres,^ et eandem quidem sententiam
sequitur quam tu, nam Aristum Athenis audivit aH-
quamdiu, cuius tu fratrem Antiochum. Quam ob rem
da, quaeso, te huic etiam generi Utterarum."
13 IV. Tum ille " Istuc quidem considerabo, nec vero
sine te. Sed de te ipso quid est," inquit, " quod
audio ? " " Quanam," inquam, " de re ? " " ReUc-
tam a te veterem Academiam,^ " inquit, " tractari
autem novam." " Quid ergo ? " inquam, " Antiocho
id magis Ucuerit nostro famiUari, remigrare in domum
veterem e nova, quam nobis in novam e vetere ?
Certe enim recentissima quaeque sunt correcta et
emendata maxime ; quamquam Antiochi magister
Philo, magnus vir ut tu existimas ipse, negat in Ubris,
quod coram etiam ex ipso audiebamus, duas Aca-
demias esse, erroremque eorum qui ita putarunt
coarguit." " Est," inquit, " ut dicis, sed ignorare
te non arbitror quae contra ea^ Philonis Antiochus
14 scripserit." " Immo vero et ista et totam veterem
^ Aldus : Graecia desideret codd.
* Academiam Bentley : illam Madvig : iam codd.
^ ea inseruit Reid.
<» Succeeded Antiochus as head of the Old Academy.
^ i.e.i from Atticus.
422
ACADEMICA, I. iii.— iv.
For this occupation is the one most suited to my age ;
or it is the one more in harmony than any other with
such praiseworthy achievements as I can claim ; or
else it is the most useful means of educating our
fellow-citizens also ; or, if these things are not the
case, I see no other occupation that is within our
12 power. At all events our friend Brutus, who is
eminent for every kind of distinction, is so successful
an exponent of philosophy in a Latin dress that one
could not feel the least need for Greek writings on
the same subjects, and indeed he is an adherent of
the same doctrine as yourself, as for a considerable
time he heard the lectures of Aristus ° at Athens,
whose brother Antiochus you attended. Pray there-
fore devote yourself to this field of hterature also."
13 IV. " I Mill deal with your point," he rejoined,
although I shall require your assistance. But what
is this news that I hear ^ about yourself ? "
"What about, exactly ? " said I. " That you have varro
abandoned the Old Academy, and are dealing ^\ith ^Howing
the New." " What then ? " I said. " Is our friend defends oid
Antiochus to have had more hberty to return from f^^^^^^^
the new school to the old, than we are to have to New ; Cicero
move out of the old one into the new ? Why, there phiufmain-
is no question that the neM'est theories are alwa^^s ^j^i"^ ^^^^
most correct and free from error ; although Philo,
Antiochus's master, a great man as you yourself
judge him, makes an assertion in his books which we
used also to hear from his own hps, — he says that
there are not two Academies, and proves that those who
thought so were mistaken," "What you say is true,"
said he, " but I think that you are not unacquainted
with what Antiochus MTote to combat those state-
14 ments of Philo." " On the contrary, I should hke
423
CICERO
Academiam, a qua absum iam diu, renovari a te, nisi
molestum est, velim ; et simul adsidamus," inquam,
"si videtur." " Sane istud quidem," inquit, " sum
enim admodum infirmus ; sed \ddeamus idemne
Attico placeat fieri a me quod te velle video." " Mihi
vero," ille, " quid est enim quod malim quam ex
Antiocho iam pridem audita recordari, et simul videre
satisne ea commode dici possint Latine ? " Quae
cum essent^ dicta, in conspectu consedimus omnes.^
15 Tum Varro ita exorsus est : " Socrates mihi vide-
tur, id quod constat inter omnes, primus a rebus
occultis et ab ipsa natura involutis, in quibus omnes
ante eum philosophioccupatifuerunt,avocavissephilo-
sophiam et ad vitam communem adduxisse, ut de
virtutibus et vitiis omninoque de bonis rebus et malis
quaereret, caelestia autem vel procul esse a nostra
cognitione censeret vel, si maxime cognita essent,
16 nihil tamen ad bene vivendum. Hic in omnibus fere
sermonibus qui ab iis qui illum audierunt perscripti
varie copioseque sunt ita disputat ut nihil adfirmet
ipse, refellat alios, nihil se scire dicat nisi id ipsum,
eoque praestare ceteris quod illi quae nesciant scire
se putent, ipse se nihil scire, id unum sciat, ob eamque
rem se arbitrari ab Apolline omnium sapientissimum
^ sint codd. plerique : deUnt edd. plerique,
' oinnes delet Reid {metri tollendi causa),
424
ACADEMICA, I. iv.
you, if you do not mind, to recapitulate the argu-
ments to whicli you refer, and also the wholc theory
of the Old Academy, with which I have been out of
touch for a long while now ; and at the same time,"
I said, " let us if you please sit down for our talk."
" Let us sit down by all means," he said, " for I am
in rather weak health. But let us see whether
Atticus would hke me to undertake the same task
that I see you want me to." " To be sure I should,"
said Atticus, " for what could I hke better than to
recall to memory the doctrines that I heard long ago
from Antiochus, and at the same time to see if they
can be satisfactorily expressed in Latin ? " After
these remarks we took our seats in full view of one
another.
15 Then Varro began as follows : " It is my view, and varro
it is universally agreed, that Socrates was the first ^ift^iocWs
person M'ho summoned philosophy away from mys- dogmatism
teries veiled in concealment by nature herself, upon (i) histori-
which all philosophers before him had been enffaffed, ^,^^ '■ ^^_,
and led it to the subject of ordinary hfe, in order to from
investigate the virtues and vices, and good and evil ^^"^rates.
generally, and to reaUze that heavenly matters are
either remote from our knowledge or else, however
fully known, have nothing to do with the good hfe.
16 The method of discussion pursued by Socrates in
almost all the dialogues so diversely and so fully re-
corded by his hearers is to affirm nothing himself but
to refute others, to assert that he knows nothing
except the fact of his own ignorance, and that he sur-
passed all other people in that they think they know
things that they do not know but he himself thinks
he knows nothing, and that he beHeved this to have
been the reason why Apollo declared him to be the
4.25
CICERO
esse dictum quod haec esset una omnis^ sapientia, non
arbitrari se scire quod nesciat. Quae cum diceret
constanter et in ea sententia permaneret, omnis eius
oratio tamen^ in virtute laudanda et in hominibus
ad virtutis studium cohortandis consumebatur, ut
e Socraticorum Ubris maximeque Platonis intellegi
17 potest. Platonis autem auctoritate, qui varius et
multiplex et copiosus fuit, una et consentiens duobus
vocabuhs philosophiae forma instituta est, Academi-
corum et Peripateticorum, qui rebus congruentes
nominibus differebant ; nam cum Speusippum sororis
filium Plato philosophiae quasi heredem reUquisset,
duos autem praestantissimo studio atque doctrina,
Xenocratem Calchedonium et Aristotelem Stagiriten,
qui erant cum Aristotele Peripatetici dicti sunt quia
disputabant inambulantes in Lycio, iUi autem quia^
Platonis instituto in Academia, quod est alterum
gymnasium, coetus erant et sermones habere sohti, e
loci vocabulo nomen habuerunt. Sed utrique Platonis
ubertate completi certam quandam disciphnae formu-
lam composuerunt et eam quidem plenam ac refer-
tam, illam autem Socraticam dubitanter* de omnibus
rebus et nulla adfirmatione adhibita consuetudinem
disserendi reliquerunt. Ita facta est, quod minime
Socrates probabat, ars quaedam philosophiae etrerum
18 ordo et descriptio discipUnae. Quae quidem erat
^ hominis Lambinus. ^ Gruter : tam codd.
^ quia ? Reid : qui a, qui codd.
* Baiter : dubitantem, dubitationem codd.
« Plato, Apology, 21 a.
^ Cicero is translating StdSoxos.
* At the entrance to the Bosporus, nearly opposite to
Byzantium. <* On the coast of Macedon.
* This famous Athenian gymnasium had a much-
frequented peripatos or promenade.
426
ACADEMICA, I. iv.
^visest of all men,*^ because all wisdom consists solely
in not thinkino; that you know what you do not know.
He used to say this regularly, and remained firm in
this opinion, yet nevertheless the whole of his dis-
courses were spent in praising virtue and in exhorting
mankind to the zealous pursuit of virtue, as can be
gathered from the books of members of the Socratic
17 school, and particularly from those of Plato. But
originating with Plato, a thinker of manifold variety
and fertiUty, there was estabhshed a philosophy that,
though it had two appellations, was really a single
uniform system, that of the Academic and the Peri-
patetic schools, which while agreeing in doctrine
differed in name ; for Plato left his sister's son
Speusippus as ' heir ' ^ to his system, but two pupils
of outstanding zeal and learning, Xenocrates, a
native of Calchedon,^ and Aristotle, a native of
Stagira ^ ; and accordingly the associates of Aris-
totle were called the Peripatetics, because they used
to debate while walking in the Lyceum,^ while the
others, because they carried on Plato's practice of
assembUng and conversing in the Academy, which is
another gymnasium, got their appellation from the
name of the place. But both schools drew plentiful
supphes from Plato's abundance, and both framed a
definitely formulated rule of doctrine, and this fully
and copiously set forth, whereas they abandoned the
famous Socratic custom of discussing everything in
a doubting manner and without the admission of any
positive statement. Thus was produced something
that Socrates had been in the habit of reprobating
entirely, a definite science of philosophy, with a
regular arrangement of subjects and a formulated
18 system of doctrine. At the outset it is true this was
427
CICERO
primo duobus, ut dixi, nominibus una, nihil enim
inter Peripateticos et illam veterem Academiam
differebat : abundantia quadam ingenii praestabat,
ut mihi quidem videtur, Aristoteles, sed idem fons
erat utrisque et eadem rerum expetendarum fugien-
darumque partitio.
V. " Sed quid ago ? " inquit " aut sumne sanus qui
haec vos doceo ? nam etsi non sus Minervam, ut
aiunt, tamen inepte quisquis Minervam docet." Tum
Atticus, " Tu vero," inquit, " perge, Varro ; valde
enim amo nostra atque nostros, meque ista delectant
cum Latine dicuntur et isto modo." " Quid me,"
inquam, " putas, qui philosophiam iam professus sim
populo nostro exhibiturum ? " " Pergamus igitur,"
19 inquit, " quoniam placet. Fuit ergo iam accepta a
Platone philosophandi ratio triplex, una de vita et
moribus, altera de natura et rebus occultis, tertia
de disserendo et quid verum,^ quid falsum, quid
rectum in oratione pravumve, quid consentiens,
quid repugnans esset^ iudicando. Ac primum illam
partem bene vivendi a natura petebant^ eique paren-
dum esse dicebant, neque ulla aUa in re nisi in
natura quaerendum esse illud summum bonum quo
omnia referrentur, constituebantque extremum esse
rerum expetendarum et finera bonorum adeptum
esse omnia e natura et animo et corpore et vita.
1 verum et codd. plurimi : verum sit Reid.
* repugnans esset Miiller : repugnet codd.
^ repetebant Reid.
<» A proverb of Greek origin ; the story on which it was
based does not seem to be recorded. Theocritus has it in a
rather different form, Cs ttot' ' Xd-qvaiav ^piv i^piaev (5. 23),
suggesting perhaps a challenge to a competition in music.
^* t.«., the original Academy.
* Vita denotes e/criy dyadd, ' external goods.*
428
ACADEMICA, I. iv.— v.
a single system with two names, as I said, for there
was no difference between the Peripatetics and the
Old Academy of those days. Aristotle excelled, as I
at all events think, in a certain copiousness of in-
tellect, but both schools drew from the same source,
and both made the same classification of things as
desirable and to be avoided.
V. " But what am I about ? " he said, " am I quite
all there, who teach these things to you ? Even if it
is not a case of the proverbial pig teaching Minerva,**
anyway whoever teaches Minerva is doing a silly
thing." ** Do pray go on, Varro," rejoined Atticus,
" for I love our hterature and our fellow-countrymen
profoundly, and I dehght in the doctrines of your
school when set forth in Latin and as you are setting
them forth." " What do you suppose that I feel
about it," said I, " seeing that I have already offered
myself as an exponent of philosophy to our nation ? "
" Well then, let us proceed," said he, " as we are (2) Anti-
19 agreed. There already existed, then, a threefold EUiics :
scheme of philosophy inherited from Plato : one J°g°^^\"^
division dealt with conduct and morals, the second bodUy and
with the secrets of nature, the third with dialectic ^^^*^-^^^-
and with judgement of truth and falsehood, correct-
ness and incorrectness, consistency and inconsistency,
in rhetorical discourse. And fur the first of these
sections, the one deahng with the right conduct
of hfe, they ^ went for a starting-point to nature, and
declared that her orders must be foUowed, and that
the chief good which is the ultimate aim of all things
is to be sought in nature and in nature only ; and
they laid it down that to have attained complete
accordance with nature in mind, body and estate ^
is the limit of things desirable and the End of goods.
429
CICERO
Corporis autem alia ponebant esse in toto, alia in
partibus, valetudinem vires pulchritudinem in toto,
in partibus autem sensus integros et praestantiam
aliquam partium singularum, ut in pedibus celeri-
tatem, vim in manibus, claritatem in voce, in lingua
20 etiam explanatam vocum impressionem. Animi
autem quae essent ad comprehendendam virtutem
idonea, eaque ab eis in naturam et mores divide-
bantur : naturae celeritatem ad discendum et me-
moriam dabant, quorum utrumque mentis esset pro-
prium et ingenii, morum autem putabant studia esse
et quasi consuetudinem, quam partim adsiduitate
exercitationis, partim ratione formabant, in quibus
erat ipsa philosophia. In qua quod incohatum est
neque absolutum progressio quaedam ad virtutem
appellatur, quod autem absolutum, id est virtus, quasi
perfectio naturae omniumque rerum quas in animis
21 ponunt una res optima. Ergo haec animorum. Vitae
autem (id enim erat tertium) adiuncta esse dicebant
quae ad virtutis usum valerent. Nam virtus in animi
bonis et in corporis cernitur et in quibusdam quae
non tam naturae quam beatae vitae adiuncta sunt.
Hominem esse censebant quasi partem quandam
civitatis et universi generis humani, eumque esse
coniunctum cum hominibus humana quadam societate.
Ac de summo quidem atque naturah bono sic agunt ;
" Quasi marks consuetudo as a translation of ^do% and
suggests its relation to ^dos.
* This translates Zeno's term TrpoKotrr). ' TeXeiwacj.
^ Translates fM4pos. * 17 dvdpuinvTi KOLvuvia.
430
ACADEMICA, I. v.
Among goods of tbe body they laid it down that some
resided in the whole frame and others in the parts :
health, strength and beauty were goods of the whole,
goods of the parts were sound senses and the par-
ticular excellences of the parts severally, for instance
speed in the feet, power in the hands, clearness in the
voice, and also an even and distinct articulation of
20 sounds as a quahty of the tongue. Goodness of the
mind consisted in the quahties conducive to the com-
prehension of virtue ; these they divided into gifts
of nature and features of the moral character — quick-
ness of apprehension and memory they assigned to
nature, each of them being a mental and intellectual
property, while to the moral character they deemed
to belong the interests or * habit ' " which they
moulded partly by dihgent practice and partly by
reason, practice and reason being the domain of
philosophy itself. In this philosophy a commence-
ment not carried to completion is called ' progress ' *
towards virtue, but the completed course is virtue,
which is the * consummation ' <= of nature, and is the
most supremely excellent of all the faculties of the
mind as they define them. This then is their account
21 of the mind. To ' estate ' — that was the third
division — they said belonged certain properties that
influenced the exercise of virtue. For virtue is dis-
played in connexion with the goods of the mind
and those of the body, and with some that are the
attributes not so much of nature as of happiness.
Man they deemed to be, so to say, a ' part ' ^ of the
state and of the human race as a whole, and they held
that a man was conjoined with his fellow-men by the
* partnership of humanity.' * And this being their
treatment of the supreme good as bestowed by
431
CICERO
cetera autem pertinere ad id putant aut adaugendum
aut tuendum,^ ut dmtias, ut opes, ut gloriam, ut
gratiam. Ita tripartita ab iis inducitur ratio bonorum.
22 VI. " Atque haec illa sunt tria genera quae putant
plerique Peripateticos dicere. Id quidem non falso,
est enim haec partitio illorum ; illud imprudenter,
si alios esse Academicos qui tum^ appellarentur, alios
Peripateticos arbitrantur. Communis haec ratio et
utrisque hic bonorum finis videbatur, adipisci quae
essent prima natura quaeque ipsa per sese expetenda,
aut omnia aut maxima ; ea sunt autem maxima quae
in ipso animo atque in ipsa virtute versantur. Itaque
omnis illa antiqua philosophia sensit in una virtute
esse positam beatara vitam, nec tamen beatissimam
nisi adiungerentur et corporis et cetera quae supra
23 dicta sunt ad virtutis usum idonea. Ex hac descrip-
tione agendi quoque aliquid in vita et offici ipsius
initium reperiebatur, quod erat in conservatione
earum rerum quas natura praescriberet. Hinc gigne-
batur fuga desidiae voluptatumque contemptio, ex
quo laborum dolorumque susceptio multorum magno-
rumque recti honestique causa et earum rerum quae
erant congruentes cum descriptione naturae, unde et
amicitia exsistebat et iustitia atque aequitas, eaeque
et voluptatibus et multis vitae commodis antepone-
bantur. Haec quidem fuit apud eos morum institutio et
eius partis quam primam posui forma atque descriptio.
24 " De natura autem (id enim sequebatur) ita dice-
^ Lamhinus : tenendum codd.
2 Reid : dum codd.
" A dual rendering of rb koXop,
432
ACADEMICA, I. v.— vi.
nature, all other goods they considered to be factors
contributing either to its increase or to its protection,
for instance wealth, resources, fame, influence. Thus
they introduced a triple classification of goods.
22 VI. " And this corresponds with the three classes
of goods which inost people think to be intended by
the Peripatetics. This is indeed correct, for this
classification is theirs, but it is a mistake if people
suppose that the Academics quoted above and the
Peripatetics were different schools. This theory was
common to both, and both held that the end of goods
was to acquire either all or the greatest of the things
that are by nature primary, and are intrinsically
worthy of desire ; and the greatest of these are the
ones which have their being in the mind itself and
in virtue itself. Accordingly the whole of the great
philosophy of antiquity held that happiness hes in
virtue alone, yet that happiness is not supreme ^vith-
out the addition of the goods of the body and all the
other goods suitable for the employment of virtue that
23 were specified above. From this scheme they used
also to arrive at a first principle of conduct in Hfe and
of duty itself, which principle lay in safeguarding the
things that nature prescribed. Hence sprang the duty
of avoiding idleness and of disregarding pleasures,
leading on to the undergoing of many great toils
and pains for the sake of the right and noble,'^ and
of the objects in harmony with the plan marked out
by nature, from which sprang friendship, and also
justice and fairness ; and these they rated higher
than pleasures and an abundance of the good things
of life. This then was their system of ethics, the
plan and outUne of the department that I placed first.
24 " The subject of nature (for that came next) they
433
Virtue atid
conduct.
CICERO
bant tit eam dividerent in res duas, ut altera esset
efficiens, altera autem quasi huic se praebens, ex
qua^ efficeretur aliquid. In eo quod efficeret \dm esse
censebant, in eo autem quod efficeretur materiam
quandam ; in utroque tamen utrumque, neque enim
materiam ipsam cohaerere potuisse si nulla vi con-
tineretur, neque vim sine ahqua materia (nihil est
enim quod non alicubi esse cogatur). Sed quod ex
utroque, id iam corpus et quasi quahtatem quandam
nominabant — dabitis enim profecto ut in rebus inusi-
tatis, quod Graeci ipsi faciunt a quibus haec iam diu
tractantur, utamur verbis interdum inauditis."
25 VII. " Nos vero," inquit Atticus ; " quin etiam
Graecis hcebit utare cum voles, si te Latina forte
deficient." " Bene sane facis ; sed enitar ut Latine
loquar, nisi in huiusce modi verbis, ut philosophiam
aut rhetoricam aut physicam aut dialecticam appel-
lem, quibus ut ahis multis consuetudo iam utitur pro
Latinis. QuaUtates igitur appellavi quas Trotor/yTas
Graeci vocant, quod ipsum apud Graecos non est
^ ex qua Turnehus : eaque codd. : ex eaque Mdv.
" The two dpxci'» TroirjTLK-r) and iradT^TLK-q. Qiiasi marks
huic se praebens as a translation of the latter.
* Qiiandam apologizes for the use of materia^ 'timber/ as
a philosophical term to translate t^X-q.
« This clause explains the preceding clause only and is
traceable ultimately to Timaeus 52 b (pd/ieu di^ayKalov ehai
irov To bu dirav iv tlvl towlc, Apparently Antiochus with
Plato identified matter and space.
^ i.e., organized matter, materia being matter as yet un-
formed.
* Cicero apologizes for coining the word qualitas to render
iroL6Tr)$f ' what-sort-ness,' a term coined by Plato, Theaetetus^
189 A ; the Latin abstract noun, hke the Greek, is used for
the concrete, ' a thing of a certain quaUty,' an object possess-
ing certain properties.
434
ACADEMICA, I. vi.— vii.
dealt with by the method of dividing nature into two (3) Anti-
principles," the one the active, and the other thep^^y^-gg.
' passive,' on which the active operated and out of entities are
which an entity ^vas created. The active principle hiformed
they deemed to constitute force, the one acted on, ^y force.
a sort of ' material ' '^ ; yet they held that each of
the two was present in the combination of both, for
matter could not have formed a concrete whole by
itself ^\ith no force to hold it together, nor yet force
without some matter (for nothing exists that is not
necessarily somewhere ^). But when they got to the
product of both force and matter, they called this
'body,'^ and, if I may use the term, ' quahty ' ^ —
as we are deaUng wdth unusual subjects you ^vdll
of course allow us occasionally to employ words
never heard before, as do the Greeks themselves,
who have now been handhng these topics for a long
time."
25 VII. " To be sure we will," said Atticus ; " indeed
you shall be permitted to employ even Greek words
if Latin ones happen to fail you." " That is certainly
kind of you, but I will do my best to talk Latin,
except in the case of words of the sort now in
question, so as to employ the term ' philosophy ' or
* rhetoric ' or ' physics ' ^ or * dialectic,' ^ which hke
many others are now habitually used as Latin words.
I have therefore given the name of ' quahties ' to the
things that the Greeks call poiotetes ; even among
the Greeks it is not a word in ordinary use, but
' i.e., the whole of natural science, of which physics in the
modern sense is a part.
" i.e., \ogic (including both formal logic and epistemology
or the theory of knowiedge, cf. ii. 142) ; XoyiKrj included both
5ta\e/cTi/cv) and pT]TopiK7]. C/. § 30 n.
435
CICERO
vulgi verbum sed philosophorum ; atque id in multis.
Dialecticorum vero verba nulla sunt pubHca, suis
utuntur ; et id quidem commune omnium fere est
artium, aut enim nova sunt rerum novarum facienda
nomina aut ex ahis transferenda. Quod si Graeci faciunt
qui in his rebus tot iam saecula versantur, quanto id
magis nobis concedendum est qui haec nunc primum
26 tractare conamur ? " " Tu vero," inquam, " Varro,
bene etiam meriturus mihi videris de tuis civibus si
eos non modo copia rerum auxeris, ut fecisti,^ sed
etiam verborum." " Audebimus ergo," inquit, "novis
verbis uti te auctore si necesse erit. Earum igitur
quahtatum sunt ahae principes, aUae ex his ortae.
Principes sunt unius modi et simplices ; ex his autem
variae ortae sunt et quasi multiformes. Itaque aer
(hoc quoque utimur iam^ pro Latino) et ignis et
aqua et terra prima sunt ; ex his autem ortae animan-
tium formae earumque rerum quae gignuntur e terra.
Ergo illa initia et (ut e Graeco vertam) elementa
dicuntur ; e quibus aer et ignis movendi vim habent
et efficiendi, reliquae^ partes accipiendi et quasi
patiendi, aquam dico et terram. Quintum genus, e quo
essent astra mentesque, singulare eorumque quattuor
quae supra dixi dissimile Aristoteles quoddam esse
^ ut effecisti codd. fere omnes : uti fecisti KJotz,
' Halm : enim codd. ^ reliqua Jlalm.
* i.e., ' qualified objects,' classes of things, abstract for
concrete, cf. § 24-. ^ iroXveidrjs.
* A literal translation of (pvrd — the vegetable kingdom.
** a.pxo.i. * (TTOixela.
* Halm's emendation gives ' and the remaining elements
• . . the receptive and passive role.' But c/. Tusc. i. 40
* terram et mare . . . reliquae duae partes.'
436
ACADEMICA, I. vii.
belongs to the philosophers, and this is the case with
many terms. But the dialecticians' vocabulary is
none of it the popular language, they use words of
their own ; and indeed this is a feature shared by
almost all the sciences : either new names have to be
coined for new things, or names taken from other
things have to be used metaphorically. This being
the practice of the Greeks, who have now been en-
gaged in these studies for so many generations, how
much more ought it to be allowed to us, who are now
attempting to handle these subjects for the first
26 time ! " " Indeed, Varro," said I, " I think you will The
actually be doing a ser\dce to your fellow-countrymen ^^^"^"'^^
if you not only enlarge their store of facts, as you
have done, but of words also." " Then on your
authority we will venture to employ new words, if we
have to. Well then, those qualities "■ are of two sorts,
primary and derivative. Things of primary quahty
are homogeneous and simple ; those derived from
them are varied and ' multiform.' ^ Accordingly
air (this word also we now use as Latin) and fire and
water and earth are primary ; while their derivatives
are the species of hving creatures and of the things
that grow out of the earth.*' Therefore those things
are termed first principles ^ and (to translate from
the Greek) elements * ; and among them air and fire
have motive and efficient force, and the remaining
divisions, I mean water and earth, receptive and
' passive ' capacity.-'' Aristotle deemed that there
existed a certain fifth sort of element,^ in a class by
itself and unhke the four that I have mentioned above,
which was the source of the stars and of thinkino:
' This TreiJLnTT) ovaia, quinta essentia. has floated down to
us in the word ' quintessence.'
437
CICERO
21 rebatur. Sed subiectam putant omnibus slne ulla
specie atque carentem omni illa qualitate (facia-
mus enim tractando usitatius hoc verbum et tritius)
materiam quandam, e qua omnia expressa atque ef-
ficta sint, quae una omnia accipere possit omnibusque
modis mutari atque ex omni parte, atque etiam interire,
non in nihilum sed in suas partes, quae infinite secari
ac dividi possint, cum sit nihil omnino in rerum natura
minimum quod dividi nequeat ; quae autem movean-
tur, omnia intervaUis moveri, quae intervalla item
28 infmite dividi possint. Et cum ita moveatur illa vis
quam quaUtatem esse diximus et cum sic ultro
citroque versetur, et materiam ipsam totam penitus
commutari putant et illa effici quae appellant quaha,
e quibus in omni natura cohaerente et continuata
cum omnibus suis partibus unum effectum esse mun-
dum, extra quem nulla pars materiae sit nuUumque
corpus, partes autem esse mundi omnia quae insint
in eo quae natura sentiente teneantur, in qua ratio
perfecta insit quae sit eadem sempiterna (nihil enim
29 valentius esse a quo intereat) ; quam vim animum
esse dicunt mundi, eandemque esse mentem sapien-
tiamque perfectam, quem deum appehant, omnium-
que rerum quae sint ei subiectae quasi prudentiam
quandam, procurantem caelestia maxime, deinde in
terris ea quae pertineant ad homines ; quam inter-
" i.e., spaces of void or vacuum that are between the soHds
and enable them to move.
* See § 25 n. The Stoics asserted that everything real
has two components, the active and the passive, force and
matter, and they expressed the former as ' quahty ' ; but they
emphasized their materiahsm by sometimes speaking of the
qualifying force as a current of air.
« TToid. ** Aatura = ov<jla = \yKT], ef. ii. 118.
* Cf. N.D. ii. 22, 75, 85.
^3S
ACADEMICA, I. vii.
27 minds. But they hold that underlying all things is Matter and
a substance called ' matter,' entirely formless and j^jHn^teiy
devoid of all 'quality ' (for let us make this word 'livisibie.
more familiar and manageable by handhng), and that
out of it all things have been formed and produced,
so that this matter can in its totahty receive all
things and undergo every sort of transformation
throughout every part of it, and in fact even suffer
dissolution, not into nothingness but into its own
parts,which are capable of infinite sectionand division,
since there exists nothing whatever in the nature of
things that is an absolute least, incapable of division ;
but that all things that are in motion move by
means of interspaces,° these Ukewise being infinitely
28 divisible. And since the force that we have called The Cosvwa.
* quality ' ^ moves in this manner and since it thus
^vibrates to and fro, they think that the whole of
matter also is itself in a state of complete change
throughout, and is made into the things which they
term * quahfied,' " out of which in the concrete
whole of substance,^ a continuum united with all its
parts, has been produced one world, outside of which
there is no portion of matter and no body, w^hile all
the things that are in the world are parts of it, held
together by a sentient being,^ in w^hich perfect reason,
is immanent, and which is immutable ^ and eternal
since nothing stronger exists to cause it to perish ;
29 and this force they say is the soul of the world, and The aii-
is also perfect intelhgence and wisdom, which they r^^oq""
entitle God, and is a sort of * providence ' ^ knowing
the things that fall within its pro\"ince, governing
especially the heavenly bodies, and then those things
on earth that concern mankind ; and this force they
^ Eadem denotes self-identity. ' irpovoLa.
439
CICERO
diun eandem necessitatem appellant, quia nihil aliter
possit^ atque ab ea constitutum sit inter'* quasi
fatalem et immutabilem continuationem ordinis sem-
piterni ; non numquam quidem eandem fortunam,
quod efficiat multa improvisa ac necopinata nobis
propter obscuritatem ignorationemque causarum.
30 VIII. " Tertia deinde philosophiae pars, quae erat
in ratione et in disserendo, sic tractabatur ab utris-
que. Quamquam oriretur a sensibus, tamen non
esse iudicium veritatis in sensibus : mentem volebant
rerum esse iudicem ; solam censebant idoneam cui
crederetur, quia sola cerneret id quod semper esset
simplex et unius modi et tale quale esset. Hanc illi
ISeav appellant, iam a Platone ita nominatam, nos
31 recte speciem possimius dicere. Sensus autem omnes
hebetes et tardos esse arbitrabantur nec percipere
ullo modo res ullas quae subiectae sensibus viderentur,^
quod aut ita essent parvae ut sub sensum cadere non
possent, aut ita mobiles et concitatae ut nihil umquam
unum esset^ constans, ne idem quidem, quia conti-
nenter laberentur et fluerent omnia ; itaque hanc
32 omnem partem rerum opinabilem appellabant. Scien-
tiam autem nusquam esse censebant nisi in animi
notionibus atque rationibus ; qua de causa defini-
tiones rerum probabant et has ad omnia de quibus
disceptabatur adhibebant. Verborum etiam expU-
catio probabatur, id est, qua de causa quaeque essent
ita nominata, quam eVv/xoAoyiai/ appellabant ; post
^ <esse> possit ? ed. ^ inter : evenire Turnebus,
3 esset <et> edd.f esset <aut> Reid.
*• KaTTfvayKaa jxhrfv tlvcl Kal airapa^aTov avfJLirXoK-fiv.
* A dual rendering of \oyiK-q, or perhaps of 8ia\eKTiKri.
Spp § 27 n. * i.e., definition of res, things, not of words.
440
ACADEMICA, I. vii.— viii.
also sometimes call Necessity, because nothing can
happen otherwise than has been ordained by it
under a * fated and unchangeable concatenation of
everlasting order ' ° ; although they sometimes also
term it Fortune, because many of its operations are
unforeseen and unexpected by us on account of their
obscurity and our ignorance of causes.
30 VIII. " Then the third part of philosophy, con-(4)Anti.
sisting in reason and in discussion,^ was treated by ^q^q^
them both as follows. The criterion of truth arose
indeed from the senses, yet was not in the senses :
the judge of things was, they held, the mind — they
thought that it alone deserves credence, because it
alone perceives that which is eternally simple and
uniform and true to its own quahty. This thing they
call the Idea, a name already given it by Plato ; we
31 can correctly term it form. All the senses on the
other hand they deemed to be duU and sluggish, and
entirely unperceptive of all the things supposed to
fall within the province of the senses, which were
either so small as to be imperceptible by sense, or in
such a violent state of motion that no single thing
was ever stationary, nor even remained the same
thing, because all things were in continual ebb and
flow ; accordingly all this portion of things they
32 called the object of opinion. Knowledge on the
other hand they deemed to exist nowhere except in
the notions and reasonings of the mind ; and conse-
quently they approved the method of defining things,
and applied this ' real definition ' '^ to all the subjects
that they discussed. They also gave approval to
derivation of words, that is, the statement of the
reason why each class of things bears the name
that it does — the subject termed by them etymology
441
CICERO
argumentis quibusdam^ et quasi rerum notis ducibus
utebantur ad probandum et ad coneludendum id quod
explanari volebant ; in quo- tradebatur omnis dialec-
ticae disciplina, id est, orationis ratione conclusae ;
huic quasi ex altera parte oratoria \as dicendi adhibe-
batur, expUcatrix orationis perpetuae ad persuaden-
dum accommodatae.
33 " Haec erat iUis prima forma^ a Platone tradita ;
cuius quas acceperim immutationes,^ si vultis, ex-
ponam." " Nos vero volumus," inquam, " ut pro
Attico etiam respondeam." " Et recte," inquit,
" respondes ; praeclare enim explicatur Peripateti-
corum et Academiae veteris auctoritas."
IX. " Aristoteles^ primus species quas paulo ante
dixi labefacta\-it, quas mirifice Plato erat amplexatus,
ut in iis quiddam divinum esse diceret. Theophrastus
autem, vir et oratione suavis et ita moratus ut
probitatem quandam prae se et ingenuitatem ferat,
vehementius etiam fregit quodam modo auctoritatem
veteris disciphnae ; spoHavit enim virtutem suo
decore imbecillamque reddidit quod negavit in ea
34 sola positum esse beate vivere. Nam Strato eius
auditor, quamquam fuit acri ingenio, tamen ab ea
disciphna omnino semovendus est, qui cum maxime
necessariam partem philosophiae, quae posita est in
\1rtute et moribus, reliquisset totumque se ad investi-
gationem naturae contuHsset, in ea ipsa plurimum
dissedit a suis. Speusippus autem et Xenocrates, qui
^ quibusdam delendum ? {om. codd. nonnulli).
2 Manutius : qua codd.
* prima forma Reid : prima codd. : forma Mdv.
* Davies : disputationes codd.
^ Aristoteles iy^itur cod. unvs.
" Qaasi marks notis as an explanation of argumentis used
to translate avjx^oXa, ' avTlaTpocpov,
442
ACADEMICA, I
. Vlll. IX.
and then they used derivations as * tokens ' or so to
say marks ° of things, as guides for arriving at proofs
or conclusions as to anything of which they desired
an explanation ; and under this head was imparted
their whole doctrine of Dialectic, that is, speech cast
in the form of logical argument ; to this as a ' coun-
terpart ' ^ \vas added the faculty of Rhetoric, which
sets out a continuous speech adapted to the purpose
of persuasion.
J3 " This was their primary system, inherited from Departorea
Plato ; and if you wish I will expound the modifica- [jj^'" ^^®
tions of it that have reached me." " Of course doctrine
we wlsh it," said I, " if I may reply for Atticus as
well." " And you reply correctly," said Atticus,
" for he is giving a brilliant exposition of the doctrine
of the Peripatetics and the Old Academy."
IX. " Aristotle was the first to undermine the
Forms of which I spoke a Httle while before, w^hich
had been so marvellously embodied in the system of
Plato, who spoke of them as containing an element
of divinity. Theophrastus, who has a charming style
and also a certain conspicuous uprightness and
nobiUty of character, in a way made an even more
violent breach in the authority of the old doctrine ;
for he robbed virtue of her beauty and weakened her
strength by denying that the happy hfe is placed in
34 her alone. As for his pupil Strato, although he had a
penetrating intellect nevertheless he must be kept
altogether separate from that school ; he abandoned
the most essential part of philosophy, which consists
in ethics, to devote himself entirely to research in
natural science, and even in this he differed very
widely from his friends. On the other hand Speusip-
pus and Xenocrates, the first inheritors of the system
443
CICERO
primi Platonis rationem auctoritatemque susceperant,
et post eos Polemo et Crates unaque Crantor in
Academia congregati diligenter ea quae a superiori-
35 bus acceperant tuebantur. lam Polemonem audi-
verant adsidue Zeno et Arcesilas ; sed Zeno cimi
Arcesilam anteiret aetate valdeque subtiliter dis-
sereret et peracute moveretur, corrigere conatus est
disciplinam. Eam quoque, si videtur, correctionem
explicabo, sicut solebat Antiochus." " Mihi vero,"
inquam, " videtur, quod vides idem significare
Pomponium."
X. " Zeno igitur nullo modo is erat qui ut Theo-
phrastus nervos virtutis inciderit, sed contra qui
omnia quae ad beatam vitam pertinerent in una
virtute poneret nec quidquam aliud numeraret in
bonis, idque appellaret honestum, quod esset simplex
36 quoddam et solum et unum bonum. Cetera autem
etsi nec bona nec mala essent, tamen alia secundum
naturam dicebat,^ aUa naturae esse^ contraria ; his
ipsis aha interiecta et media numerabat. Quae
autem secundum naturam essent, ea sumenda et
quadam aestimatione dignanda docebat, contraque
contraria, neutra autem in mediis rehnquebat. In
37 quibus ponebat nihil omnino esse momenti, sed quae
essent sumenda,^ ex iis aUa pluris esse aestimanda,
aUa minoris : quae pluris ea praeposita appeUabat,
reiecta autem quae minoris. Atque ut haec non tam
rebus quam vocabuUs commutaverat, sic inter recte
^ Lamhinus : docebat codd. ^ [esse] Ernesti.
^ sumenda : media Davies : <non> sumenda ? ed.
" To KaXov.
' Sumenda is carelessly put for neutra — unless indeed the
text should be corrected by inserting '' not to be chosen."
* t.«., of minus value, in grades of undesirability : this
inaccuracy occurs in the Greek authorities.
ACADEMICA, I. ix.— x.
and aiithority of Plato, and after them Polemo and
Crates, and also Crantor, gathered in the one fold of
the Academy, were assiduous defenders of the doc-
trines that they had received from their predecessors.
36 Finally, Polemo had had diligent pupils in Zeno and countered
Arcesilas, but Zcno, who was Arcesilas's senior in age ^^ ^®"°*
and an extremely subtle dialectician and very acute
thinker, instituted a reform of the system. This re-
modelled doctrine also I willexpound, if you approve,
as it used to be expounded by Antiochus." " I do
approve," said I, " and Pomponius, as you see, in-
dicates his agreement."
X. " Well, Zeno was by no means the man ever to Zeno'8
hamstring virtue, as Theophrastus had done, but on ^iassifica.
the contrary to make it his practice to place all the tnn of^
constituents of happiness in virtue alone, and to in- vfrtue the
clude nothing else in the category of Good^ entithng *°^® 6°°^-
virtue * the noble,' " which denoted a sort of uniform,
36 unique and sohtary good. All other things, he said,
were neither good nor bad, but nevertheless-some of
them were in accordance with nature and others con-
trary to nature ; also among these he counted another
interposed or * intermediate ' class of things. He
taught that things in accordajiceAvith nature were to
be chosen and estimated as having a certain value,
and their opposites the opposite, while things that
were neither he left in the * intermediate ' class.
These he declared to possess no motive force whatever,
37 but among things to be chosen ^ some were to be
deemed of more value and others of less ^ : the more
valuable he termed ' preferred,' the less valuable,
* rejected.' _And just as with these he had made an
alteration of terminology rather than of substance,
Q 44>5
CICERO
factum atque peccatum ofiicium et contra ofRcium
media locabat quaedam, recte facta sola in bonis
[actionibus]^ ponens, prave, id est peccata, in malis ;
officia autem^ servata praetermissaque media putabat,
38 ut dixi. Cumque superiores non omnem virtutem in
ratione esse dicerent sed quasdam virtutes natura
aut more perfectas, hic omnes in ratione ponebat ;
cumque illi ea genera virtutum quae supra dixi
seiungi posse arbitrarentur, hic nec id ullo modo fieri
posse disserebat nec virtutis usum modo,ut superiores,
sed ipsum habitum per se esse praeclarum, nec tamen
vlrtutem cuiquam adesse quin ea semper uteretur.
Cumque perturbationem animi illi ex homine non
tollerent, naturaque et condolescere et concupiscere
et extimescere et efFerri laetitia dicerent, sed ea con-
traherent in angustumque deducerent, hic omnibus
39 his quasi morbis voluit carere sapientem ; cumque
eas perturbationes antiqui naturales esse dicerent et
rationis expertes, aliaque in parte animi cupiditatem,
alia rationem collocarent, ne his quidem adsentie-
batur, nam et perturbationes voluntarias esse putabat
opinionisque iudicio suscipi et omnium perturba-
tionum matrem esse arbitrabatur immoderatam
quandam intemperantiam. Haec fere de moribus.
XI. " De naturis autem sic sentiebat, primum ut in
quattuor initiis rerum iUis quintam hanc naturam ex
qua superiores sensus et mentem effici rebantur non
^ ed. 2 autem Lamhinus : autem et codd.
<• Officium is Cicero's rendering of KadTjKov, * a suitable
act,' formally right in the circumstances, whatever the
motive of the agent. * i.e.., KaXop.
* So, in a later theology, faith is manifested in works.
** Morhus is a translation of TTddos.
• i.e., the elements. ^ See § 26.
446
ACADEMICA, I. x.— xi.
so between a right action and a sin he placed appro-
priate action ^ and action violating propriety as things
intermediate, classing only actions rightly done as
goods and actions wrongly done, that is sins, as evils,
whereas the observance or neglect of appropriate
38 acts he deemed intermediate, as I said. And whereas
his predecessors said that not all virtue resides in the
reason, but that certain virtues are perfected by
nature or by habit, he placed all the virtues in reason ;
and whereas they thought that the kinds of virtues
that I have stated above can be classed apart, he
argued that this is absolutely impossible, and that
not merely the exercise of virtue, as his predecessors
held, but the mere state of virtue is in itself a splendid
thing,^ although no body possesses virtue without
continuously exercising it.^ Also whereas they did not
remove emotion out of humanity altogether, and said
that sorrow and desire and fear and dehght were
natural, but curbed them and narrowed their range,
Zeno held that the wise man was devoid of all these
39 ' diseases ' '^ ; and whereas the older generation said
thatthese emotions were natural andnon-rational,and
placed desire and reason in different regions of the
mind, he did not agree with these doctrines either,
for he thought that even the emotions were voluntary
and were experienced owing to a judgement of
opinion, and he held that the mother of all the
emotions was a sort of intemperance and lack of
moderation. These more or less were his ethical
doctrines.
XI. " His views as to the natural substances ^ were Zeno'9
as foUows. First, in deahng with the four recognized ^^^^
primary elements he did not add this fifth substance '
which his predecessors deemed to be the source of
447
CICERO
ddhiberet ; statuebat enim ignem esse ipsam naturam
quae quidque gigneret, etiam^ mentem atque sensus.
Discrepabat etiam ab iisdem quod nullo modo
arbitrabatur quidquam effici posse ab ea quae expers
esset corporis, cuius generis Xenocrates et superiores
etiam animum esse dixerant, nec vero aut quod
efficeret aliquid aut quod efficeretur posse esse non
40 corpus. Plurima autem in illa tertia philosophiae
parte mutavit : in qua primum de sensibus ipsis
quaedam dixit nova, quos iunctos esse censuit e qua-
dam quasi impulsione oblata extrinsecus (quam ille
(fiavTacTLav, nos visum appellemus hcet, et teneamus
hoc quidem verbum, erit enim uteiidum in rehquo
sermone saepius), — sed ad haec quae visa sunt et quasi
accepta sensibus adsensionem adiungit animorum
quam esse vult in nobis positam et voluntariam.
41 Visis non omnibus adiungebat fidem sed iis solum quae
propriam quandam haberent declarationem earum
rerum quae viderentur ; id autem visum cum ipsum
per se cerneretur, comprendibile — feretis haec ? "
" Nos vero," inquit ; " quonam enim aho modo K-ara-
A.7^-Toi' diceres ? " " Sed cum acceptum iam et appro-
batum esset, comprehensionem appellabat, similem iis
rebus quae manu prenderentur — ex quo etiara nomen
hoc duxerat, cum eo verbo antea nemo tah in re usus
esset, plurimisque idem novis verbis (nova enim dice-
bat) usus est. Quod autem erat sensu comprensum, id
ipsum sensum appellabat, et si ita erat comprensum ut
^ Reid : et codd.
<» i.e., a combination of external impression or presentation
and internal assent ; but the sentcnce is internipted by a
parenthesis. ** eudpyeia, see ii. 18 n.
" Coniprehensio is used for comprehemium, as /vardX7;;/'ty
was for KaTaX-qTTTiKr] (pavTaa-la. See ii. 145.
448
ACADEMICA, I. xi.
sensation ai\(l of intellect ; for he laid it down that
the natural substance that was the parent of all
things, even of the senses and the mind, was itself fire.
He also differed from the same thinkers in holding that
an incorporeal substance, such as Xenocrates and the
older thinkers also had pronounced the mind to be,
wasincapableofanyactivity,whereasanythingcapable
of acting, or being acted upon in any way could not be
40 incorporeal. In the third department of philosophy lie Zeno'8
made a number of changes. Here first of all he made ^n^se-iata
some new pronouncements about sensation itself, j-i^f^e i trua
which he held to be a combination <» of a sort of im- cor.sHtnte
pact offered from outside (which he called pkantasia •^nowiedsa
and we may call a presentation, and let us retain this
term at all events, for we shall have to employ it
several times in the remainder of my discourse), —
well, to these presentations received by the senses lie
joins the act of mental assent which he makes out to
41 reside within us and to be a voluntary act. He held
that not all presentations are trustworthy but only
those that have a ' manifestation,' ^ peculiar to them-
selves, of the objects presented ; and a trustworthy
presentation, being perceived as such by its own
intrinsic nature, he termed ' graspable ' — will you
endure these coinages ? " " Indeed we will," said
Atticus," for how else couldyou express ' catalepton ' ? "
" But after it had been received and accepted as true,
he termed it a * grasp,'*' resembling objects gripped
in the hand — and in fact he had derived the actual
term from manual prehension, nobody before having
used the Mord in such a sense, and he also used a
number of new terms (for his doctrines were new).
Well, a thing grasped by sensation he called itself a
sensation, and a sensation so lirmly grasped as to be
449
CICERO
convelli ratione non posset, scientiam, sin aliter, in-
scientiam nominabat, ex qua exsisteret etiam opinio,
quae esset imbecilla et cum falso incognitoque com-
42 munis, Sed inter scientiam et inscientiam com-
prehensionem illam quam dixi coUocabat, eamque
neque in rectis neque in pravis numerabat sed solum
ei^ credendum esse dicebat. E quo sensibus etiam
fidem tribuebat, quod, ut supra dixi, comprehensio
facta sensibus et vera esse illi et fideHs videbatur, non
quod omnia quae essent in re comprehenderet, sed
quia nihil quod cadere in eam posset reUnqueret,
quodque natura quasi normam scientiae et prin-
cipium sui dedisset unde postea notiones rerum in
animis imprimerentur, e quibus non principia solum
sed latiores quaedam ad rationem inveniendam viae
aperirentur.2 Errorem autem et temeritatem et
iffnorantiam et opinationem et suspicionem, et uno
nomine omnia quae essent ahena firmae et constantis
adsensionis, a virtute sapientiaque removebat. At-
que in his fere commutatio constitit omnis dissensio-
que Zenonis a superioribus."
43 XII. Quae cum dixisset, " Breviter sane minime-
que obscure exposita est," inquam, " a te, Varro, et
veteris Academiae ratio et Stoicorum ; verum esse
autem arbitror, ut Antiocho nostro familiari placebat,
correctionem veteris Academiae potius quam novam
ahquam disciphnam putandam." Tum Varro, " Tuae
sunt nunc partes," inquit, " qui ab antiquorum ratione
desciscis et ea quae ab Arcesila novata sunt probas,
1 solum ei Christ : soU codd.
2 Davies : reperiuntur codd.
" The Mss. give ' that it alone was credible.'
* A translation of yvwfxuv or Kavibv,
450
ACADEMICA, I. xi.— xii.
irremovable by reasoning he termed knowledge, but a
sensation not so grasped he termed ignorance, and
this was the source also of opinion, an unstable impres-
42 sion akin to falsehood and ignorance. But as a stage wisdom
between knowledge and ignorance he placed that ^°
* grasp ' of which I have spoken, and he reckoned it
neither as a right nor as a wTong impression, but said
that it was only " ' credible.* On the strength of this
he deemed the senses also trustworthy, because, as I
said above, he held that a grasp achieved by the
senses was both true and trustworthy, not because
it grasped all the properties of the thing, but
because it let go nothing that was capable of being its
object, and because nature had bestowed as it were a
' measuring-rod ' ^ of knowledge and a first principle
of itself from which subsequently notions of things
could be impressed upon the mind, out of which not
first principles only but certain broader roads to the
discovery of reasoned truth were opened up. On the
other hand error, rashness, ignorance, opinion, sus-
picion, and in a word all the things ahen to firm and
steady assent, Zeno set apart from virtue and wisdom.
And it is on these points more or less that all Zeno's
departure and disagreement from the doctrine of his
predecessors turned."
4.3 XII. When he had said this, I remarked : " You Cicero
have certainly given a short and very lucid exposition piSo| ^^
of the theory both of the Old Academy and of the '^.',9^'_
Stoics ; though I think it to be true, as our friend riatonism.
Antiochus used to hold, that the Stoic theory should
be deemed a correction of the Old Academy rather
than actually a new system." " It is now your role,"
rejoined Varro, " as a seceder from the theory of
the older period and a supporter of the innovations
451
CICERO
docere quod et qua de causa discidium factum sit, ut
44 videamus satisne ista sit iusta defectio." Tum ego,
** Cum Zenone," inquam, " ut accepimus, Arcesilas
sibi omne certamen instituit, non pertinacia aut studio
vincendi, ut mihi quidem videtur, sed earum rerum
obscuritate quae ad confessionem ignorationis ad-
duxerant Socratem et iam ante Socratem Democri-
tum, Anaxagoram, Empedoclem, omnes paene veteres,
qui nihil cognosci, nihil percipi, nihil sciri posse dixe-
runt, angustos sensus, imbecillos animos, brevia curri-
cula vitae, et, ut Democritus, in profundo veritatem
esse demersam, opinionibus et institutis omnia teneri,
nihil veritati rehnqui, deinceps omnia tenebris circum-
45 fusa esse dixerunt. Itaque Arcesilas negabat esse
quidquam quod sciri posset, ne illud quidem ipsum,
quod Socrates sibi rehquisset : sic omnia latere cense-
bat in occulto, neque esse quidquam quod cemi aut
intellegi posset ; quibus de causis nihil oportere neque
profiteri neque adfirmare quemquam neque adsen-
sione approbare, cohibereque semper et ab omni lapsu
continere temeritatem, quae tum esset insignis cum
aut falsa aut incognita res approbaretur, neque hoc
quidquam esse turpius quam cognitioni et percep-
tioni adsensionem approbationemque praecurrere.
Huic rationi quod erat consentaneum faciebat, ut
contra omnium sententias disserens in eam^ plerosque
deduceret, ut cum in eadem re paria contrariis in
^ in eam Madvig : dies iam codd. (de sua unvs).
• iv ^vdt^ 7] dXrideia Diog. L. ix. 72.
* We do not even know that nothing can be known :
r/. ii. 73.
452
ACADEMICA, I. xii.
of Arcesilas, to explain the nature and the reason of
the rupture that took place, so as to enable us to see
44 whether the secession \vas fully justified." " It was Deveiop-
entirely \\ith Zeno, so we have been told," I repHed, Arc"el^iias
" that Arcesilas set on foot his battle, not from J^titied ;
obstinacy or desire for victory, as it seems to me at all
events, but because of the obscurity of the facts that
had led Socrates to a confession of ignorance, as also
previously his predecessors Democritus, Anaxagoras,
Empedocles, and ahnost all the old philosophers, who
utterly denied all possibiUty of cognition or percep-
tion or knowledge, and maintained that the senses
are Hmited, the mind feeble, the span of hfe short,
and that truth (in Democritus's phrase) is sunk in
an abyss," opinion and custom are all-prevaiUng, no
place is left for truth, all things successively are
45 wrapped in darkness. Accordingly Arcesilas said
that there is nothinor that can be kno\Mi, not even
that residuum of knowledge that Socrates had left
himself — the truth of this very dictum ^ : so hidden
in obscurity did he beUeve that everything Ues, nor
is there anything that can be perceived or under-
stood, and for these reasons, he said, no one must
make any positive statement or affirmation or give
the approval of his assent to any proposition, and a
man must always restrain his rashness and hold it
back from every sUp, as it would be glaring rashness
to give assent either to a falsehood or to something
not certainly knowTi, and nothing is more disgrace-
ful than for assent and approval to outstrip know-
ledge and perception. His practice was consistent
with this theory — he led most of his hearers to accept
it by arguing against the opinions of aU men, so
that when equally weighty reasons were found on
453
CICERO
partibus momenta rationum invenirentur, facilius ab
46 utraque parte adsensio sustineretur. Hanc Acade-
miam novam appellant, quae mihi vetus videtur,
siquidem Platonem ex illa vetere numeramus, cuius in
libris nihil adfirmatur et in utramque partem multa
disseruntur, de omnibus quaeritur, nihil certi dicitur ;
sed tamen illa quam exposuisti vetus, haec nova
nominetur ; quae usque ad Carneadem perducta, qui
quartus ab Arcesila fuit, in eadem Arcesilae ratione
permansit. Carneades autem nullius philosophiae
partis ignarus et, ut cognovi ex iis qui illum audierant
maximeque ex Epicureo Zenone, qui cum ab eo pluri-
mum dissentiret, unum tamen praeter ceteros mira-
batur, incredibili quadam fuit facultate. ..."
« See ii. 16.
• The contemporary of Cicero, who heard him at Athens.
454
ACADEMICA, I. xii.
opposite sides on the same subject, it was easier to
46 witlihold assent from either side. They call this school i^hey were
the Xew Academy, — to me it seems old, at all events Inhj
if we count Plato a member of the Old Academy, in Cameades
Mhose books nothing is stated positively and there
is much arguing both pro and C07itra, all things are
inquired into and no certain statement is made ; but
nevertheless let the Academy that you expounded
be named the Old and this one the New ; and right
do^vn to Carneades, who was fourth ^ in succession
from Arcesilas, it continued to remain true to the
same theory of Arcesilas. Carneades however was
acquainted ^^-ith every department of philosophy, and
as I have learnt from his actual hearers. and especially
from the Epicurean Zeno,^ who though disagree-
ing very much with Carneades, nevertheless had an
exceptional admiration for him, he possessed an
incredible facility. ..."
455
FRAGMENTA EDITIONIS POSTERIORIS
LlBRI I
1. No}iius p. 65. Digladiari dictum est dissentire et
dissidere, dictum a gladiis. Cicero Academicorum lib. I. :
Quid autem stomachatur Mnesarchus ? quid Anti-
pater digladiatur cum Carneade tot voluminibus ?
2. Non. p. 43 (s.v. concinnare). Idem in Academicis
lib. I. : Quicum similitudine verbi concinere maxime
sibi videretur . , ,
LlBRI II
3. Non. p. 65. Aequor ab aequo et plajio Cicero
Academicorum lib. II. vocabulum accepisse confirmat :
Quid tam planum videtur quam mare ? e quo etiam
aequor illud poetae vocant.
4. Non. p. 69- Adamare. Cicero Academicorum lib.
II. : Qui enim serius honores adamaverunt vix ad-
mittuntur ad eos nec satis commendati multitudini
possunt esse.
5. Non. p. 104. Exponere pro exempla boni osienfare.
Cicero Academicis lib. II. : Frangere avaritiam, scelera
ponere, vitam suam exponere ad imitandum iuventuti.
6. Non. p. 121. Hebes positum pro obscuro aut obtuso.
45G
FRAGMENTS, SECOND EDITION
From Book I
1. Digladiari has been used in the sense of ' to
disagree,' ' dissent ' : it is derived from ' swords.'
Cicero, Academica, Bk. I. : ' But why is Mnesarchus
resentful ? Why does Antipater cross swords \vith
Carneades in so many volumes ? *
2. {\jndeY concinnare.) The same author in-4cG<fe/w2ca
Bk. I. : * With whom by reason of the similarity of
the word he seemed to himself to be completely in
harmony . , .*
From Book II
S. The view that aequor is derived from aequum,
* level,' is supported by Cicero, Academica, Book II. :
* What seems so level as the sea ? This is actually
the reason why the word for it in poetry is aequor.'
4. Adamare. ' For those who have fallen in love
■sWth office too late gain admission to it with diffi-
culty, and cannot be enough in favour with the
multitude.'
5. Exponere meaning ' to show examples of good ':
* To crush avarice, to put away crime, to exhibit
OJie's own hfe for the young to imitate.'
6. Hebes, * dull,' used in the sense of ' dark,' or
457
CICERO
Cicero Academ. lib. II. : Quid ? lunae quae liniamenta
sunt ? potesne dicere ? cuius et nascentis et senescen-
tis alias hebetiora, alias acutiora videntur cornua.
7. Non. p. 162. Purpurascit. Cicero Acad. lih. II. :
Quid ? mare nonne caeruleum ? at eius unda cum
est pulsa remis purpurascit, et quidem aquae tinctum
quodam mxodo et infectum . . .
8. Non. p. 162. Perpendicula et normae. Cicero
Acad. lib. II. : Atqui si id crederemus, non egeremus
perpendiculis, non normis, non regulis.
9. Non. p. 394-. Siccuni dicitur aridum et sine humore.
. . . Siccum dicitur et sohrium, immadidum. Cicero
Acad. lib. II. : Alius (color) adultis, alius adules-
centibus, alius aegris, <alius sanis>, alius siccis, alius
vinulentis.
10. Non. p. 474. Urinantur. Cicero in Academicis
lib. II. : Si quando enim nos demersimus ut qui
urinantur, aut nihil superum aut obscure admodum
cernimus.
11. Non. p. 545. Alabaster. Cicero Acad. lib. II. :
Quibus etiam alabaster plenus unguenti puter esse
videtur.
LlBRI III
12. Non. p. 65. Digladiari . . . idem tertio : Di-
gladiari autem semper et depugnare in facinorosis et
audacibus quis non cum miserrimimi tum etiam stultis-
simum dixerit ?
13. Non. p. Q5. Exultare dictum est exilire. Cicero
Acad. lib. III. : Et ut nos nunc sedemus ad Lucrinum
pisciculosque exultantes videmus . . .
14. Non. p. 123. Ingeneraretur ut innasceretur.
Cicero Acad. lib. III. : In tanta ammantium varietate
458
ACADEMICA, fragments, edition 2
else ' blunt ' : ' Well, what are the outUnes of the
moon ? Can you say ? The horns of the moon
both when rising and setting sometimes seem duller,
sometimes sharper.'
7. Purpurascit. ' What, is not the sea blue ? But
when its water is struck by oars it purples, and indeed
a sort of dye and stain having come to the water's . . ,'
8. Perpendicula and normae. * Yet if we beUeved
that, we should not require plumbUnes or rods or
rulers.'
9. 'S/ccwmmeans ■ driedup/ devoidof moisture. . . .
Siccum also means * sober,' not a soaker. ' We
notice a different complexion in grown-up people and
the young, in invalids and the healthy, in the dry and
in ^^ine-bibbers.'
10. Urinantur. * For whenever we stoop hke men
making water, we see nothing above us or only quite
dimly.'
11. Alabaster. ' People who think even a scent-
bottle full of perfume a stinking thing.*
From Book III
12. Digladiari. . . . Cicero also writes in Book III. l
* But to be always crossing swords and fighting to
the end among criminals and desperadoes — who
would not call this a most pitiable and also a most
foohsh occupation ? '
13. Exultare means * to jump out.' ' And just as
we are now sitting by the Lucrine Lake and see the
httle fishes jumping out of the water . . .'
14. Ingeneraretur in the sense of ' might be born
in.' * That in man alone among all this variety of
459
CICERO
homini ut soli cupiditas ingeneraretur cognitionis et
scientiae!
15. Xon. p. 419. Findicare, trahere, liherare. . . .
Cicero Acad. lih. III. : Aliqua potestas sit, vindicet se
in libertatem.
16. Lactant. Inst. vi. 24. Cicero . . . cuius kaec in
Academico tertio verba sunt : Quod si liceret, ut iis
qui in itinere deerra\-issent, sic vitam deviam secutis
corrigere errorem paenitendo, facilior esset emendatio
temeritatis.
17. Diomedes p. 377 ed. Keil. Varro ad Ciceronem
tertio fixum et Cicero Academicorum tertio malcho in
opera adfixa.
LlBRORUM INCERTORUM
18. Laciant. Inst. iii. 14. Haec tua verba sunt
(Cicero) : Mihi autem non modo ad sapientiam caeci
videmur sed ad ea ipsa quae aliqua ex parte cerni
videantur hebetes et obtusi.
19- Augustin. c. Academicos ii. 26 TaUa, inquit
Academicus, mihi videntur omnia quae probabiha vel
veri simiha putavi nominanda ; quae tu si aho nomine
vis vocare, nihil repugno, satis enim mihi est te iam
bene accepisse quid dicam, id est, quibus rebus haec
nomina imponam : non enim vocabulorum opificem
sed rerum inquisitorem decet esse sapientem.
20. August. c. Acad. iii. 15 sq. Est in libris Ciceronis
quos in huius causae patrocinium scripsit locus quidam,
ut mihi videtur, mira urbanitate coiiditus, ut non nullis
" Malleo, Reid's conjecture for the unknown word malcho
ot the MS8.
460
ACADEMICA, fragments, editiox 2
living creatiires might be born a desire for learning
and knowledge.'
15. Jlndicare * to draw,' ' to set free.' ' Let him
show some capacity, let him champion himself into
freedom.'
16. Cicero . . . who in his third Academic volume
has these words : ' Whereas if those who have pur-
sued a devious path in hfe were allowed, hke travellers
Mho had wandered from the road, to remedy their
mistake by repenting, the correction of recklessness
would be easier.'
17. Varro in his third book dedicated to Cicero uses
Jiinm, and Cicero in Academica, Book III. * adfixed on
the work \vith a hammer.' ^
Fragments of uncertain Context
18. These are your own words, (Cicero) : * To me
however we seem not only bhnd to wisdom but dull
and blunted even towards things that are in some
measure visible.*
19- ' Such,' says the Academic speaker, ' seem to
me to be all the things that I have thought fit to
entitle " probable " or possessed of verisimihtude ;
if you want to call them by another name I make no
objection, for it satisfies me that you have ah-eady
well grasped my meaning, that is, the things to which
I assign these names : since it becomes the wise man
to be not a manufacturer of w^ords but a researcher
into things.'
20. The books of Cicero that he wrote to champion
this cause contain a certain passage that seems to me
to have a remarkably witty flavour, while some people
4.61
CICERO
autem, etiam firmitate roboraius. Difficile est prorsus ut
quemquam non moveat quod ibi dictum est, Academico
sapienti ab omnibus ceterarum sectarum qui sibi
sapientes videntur secundas partes dari, cum primas
sibi quemque vindicare necesse sit ; ex quo posse
probabiliter confici eum recte primum esse suo iudicio
qui omnium ceterorum iudicio sit secundus.
21. August. c. Acad. iii. 20. 43 Ait enim (Cicero)
illis morem fuisse occultandi sententiam suam nec
eam cuiquam nisi qui secum ad senectutem usque
vixissent aperire consuesse.
22. August. de civ. Dei vi. 2 Denique et ipse Tullius
huic (M. Varroni) tale testimonium perhibet ut in libris
Academicis dicat eam quae ibi versatur disputationem se
habuisse cum M. Varrone, homine, inquit, omnium
facile acutissimo et sine ulla dubitatione doctissimo.
462
ACADEMICA, fragmfats, edition 2
think it actiially a powerful and strong piece of -v^Titing.
Indeed it is hard to see how anybody could fail to
be impressed by what is said there, that ' the Wise
Man of the Academy is given the second role by all
the adherents of the other schools that seem wise
in their own eyes, though of course they each claim
the first part for themselves ; and that from this the
probable inference may be drawn that, since he is
second by everybody else's verdict, his own verdict is
right in placing him first.'
[There follows a page of imaginary dialogue be-
tween Zeno, Epicurus and an Academic, which some
editors print as a verbatim quotation from Cicero ;
but the style makes this unhkely, and it is not intro-
duced as a quotation, as is the passage above.]
21. For he (Cicero) says that they ' had a habit of
conceahng their opinion, and did not usually disclose
it to anybody except those that had hved with them
right up to old age.'
22. Finally Tully himself also bears such witness
to this man (Marcus Varro) as to say in Academica that
the discussion there set out took place between him-
self and Marcus Varro, ' a person who was easily the
most penetrating of all men, and without any doubt
extremely learned.'
463
LIBER SECUNDUS. LUCULLUS
(editio prior)
1 1. Magnum mgenium L. Luculli magnumque opti-
marum artium studium, tum omnis liberalis et digna
liomine nobili ab eo percepta doctrina, quibus tem-
poribus florere in foro maxime potuit caruit omnino
rebus urbanis. Ut enim admodum adulescens cum
fratre pari pietate et industria praedito paternas
inimicitias magna cum gloria est persecutus, in Asiam
quaestor profectus ibi permultos annos admirabili
quadam laude provinciae praefuit ; deinde absens
factus aedilis, continuo praetor (licebat enim celerius
legis praemio), post in Africam, inde ad consulatum,
quem ita gessit ut diligentiam admirarentur omnes,
ingenium agnoscerent. Post ad Mithridaticum bel-
lum missus a senatu non modo opinionem vicit
omnium quae de virtute eius erat sed etiam gloriam
2 superiorum ; idque eo fuit mirabilius quod ab eo laus
" This Book belongs to the first edition of the work (in
which it was dedicated to Lucullus and entitled by his
name), and it is therefore designated Academica Priora by
some editors.
^ The elder Lucullus had been tried and found guilty of
misconduct when commanding in the slave-war in Sicilj-,
103 B.c. His sons (in accordance with the Roman sentiment
of filial duty) did their best to ruin his prosecutor Servilius.
* Probably Sulla, when re-enacting the old lex annalis by
his lex de magistratibus, inserted a clause exempting his own
oflBcers as a special privilege, to reward their services.
464
BOOK II.« LUCULLUS
ANTIOCnUs's ATTACK ON SCEPTICISM EXPOUNDED AND
ANSWERED
1 L The great talents of Lucius Lucullus and his intro-
great devotion to the best sciences, with all his ac- lucuSus
quisitions in that hberal learning which becomes a the schoiar-
person of high station, were entirely cut off from
pubUc hfe at Rome in the period when he might have
won the greatest distinction at the bar. For when
as quite a youth, in co-operation with a brother
possessed of equal fihal affection and devotion, he
had carried on with great distinction the personal
feuds of his father,^ he went out as quaestor to Asia,
and there for a great many years presided over the
pro\ince \Wth quite remarkable credit ; then in his
absence he was elected aedile, and next praetor (since
by a statutory grant ^ this was permitted before the
usual time) ; later he was appointed to Africa, and
then to the consulship, which he so administered
as to win universal admiration for his devotion to
duty and universal recognition of his abihty. Later
the senate commissioned him to the war with Mithri-
dates,^ in which he not only surpassed everybody's
previous estimation of his valour but even the glory
2 of his predecessors ; and this was the more remark-
^ The third Mithridatic War, beginning 74 b.c, when
LucuUus was consul.
465
CICERO
imperatoria non adniodum exspectabatur qui adules-
centiam in forensi opera, quaesturae diuturnimi
tempus Murena bellum in Ponto gerente in Asia pace
consumpserat. Sed incredibilis quaedam ingenii
magnitudo non desideravit indocilem usus disciplinam,
Itaque cum totum iter et navigationem consumpsisset
partim in percontando a peritis, partim in rebus gestis
legendis, in Asiam factus imperator venit, cum esset
Roma profectus rei militaris rudis. Habuit enim
divinam quandam memoriam rerum, verborum ma-
iorem Hortensius, sed quo pius in negotiis gerendis res
quam verba prosunt, hoc erat memoria illa prae-
stantior ; quam fuisse in Themistocle, quem facile
Graeciae principem ponimus, singularem ferunt, qui
quidem etiam pollicenti cuidam se artem ei memoriae
quae tum primumproferebaturtraditurum respondisse
dicitur obHvisci se malle discere — credo quod haere-
bant in memoria quaecumque audierat et viderat.
Tah ingenio praeditus Lucullus adiunxerat etiam
illam quam Themistocles spreverat discipHnam,
itaque, ut htteris consignamus quae monumentis
mandare volumus, sic ille in animo res insculptas
S habebat. Tantus ergo imperator in omni genere belli
fuit, proehis, oppugnationibus, navahbus pugnis,
totiusque belU instrumento et adparatu, ut ille rex
post Alexandrum maxumus hunc a se maiorem ducem
cognitum quam quemquam eorum quos legisset
" The second Mithridatic War, 83-82 b.c.
^ i.e., the training provided by experience and not by
study.
" The lyric poet Simonides of Ceos (556-467 b.c), the
inventor of the system.
" Mil^hridates the Great (120-63 b.c), king of Pontus.
466.
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), i.
able because military distinction was not particularly
anticipated from one who had spent his youth in
practice at the bar, and the long period of his quaestor-
ship peacefully in Asia, \vhile ^lurena was carrying
on the war in Pontus." But intellectual gifts that
even surpassed belief had no need of the unschooled
training that is given by experience.^ Accordingly
after spending the whole of his journeyby land and sea
pai'tly in cross-questioning those who were experts
and partly in reading military history, he arrived in
Asia a made general, although he had started from
Rome a tiro in military matters. For he had a memory
for facts that was positively inspired, although Hor-
tensius had a better memory for words, but Lucullus's
memory was the more valuable, inasmuch as in the
conduct of business facts are of more assistance than
words ; and this form of memory is recorded as having
been present in a remarkable degree in Themistocles,
whom we rank as easily the greatest man of Greece,
and of whom the story is told that when somebody ^
offered to impart to him the meinoria tech?iica that was
then first coming into vogue, he replied that he
would sooner learn to forget — no doubt this was be-
cause whatever he heard or saw remained fixed in his
memory. Gifted with such natural endowments,
Lucullus had also added the training which Themi-
stocles had despised, and thus he kept facts engraved
on his mind just as we enshrine in writing things
3 that we desire to record. Consequently he was so
great a commander in every class of warfare, battles,
sieges, sea-fights, and in the entire field of military
equipment and commissariat, that the greatest king <*
since the time of Alexander admitted that he had
discovered Lucullus to be a greater general than any
467
CICERO
fateretur. In eodem tanta prudentia fuit in constitu-
endis temperandisque civitatibus, tanta aequitas, ut
hodie stet Asia Luculli institutis servandis et quasi
vestigiis persequendis. Sed etsi magna cum utilitate
rei publicae, tamen diutius quam vellem tanta vis
virtutis atque ingeni peregrinata afuit ab oculis et
fori et curiae. Quin etiam cum victor a Mithridatico
bello revertisset, inimicorum calumnia triennio tar-
dius quam debuerat triumpha\dt ; nos enim consules
introduximus paene in urbem currum clarissimi viri ;
cuius mihi consilium et auctoritas quid tum in
maximis rebus profuissent^ dicerem nisi de me ipso
dicendum esset, quod hoc tempore non est necesse ;
itaque privabo potius illum debito testimonio quam
id cum mea laude communicem.
4 II. Sed quae populari gloria decorari in LucuUo
debueruntj ea fere sunt et Graecis Utteris celebrata
et Latinis. Nos autem illa externa cum multis, haec
interiora cum paucis ex ipso saepe cognovimus ;
maiore enim studio Lucullus cum omni htterarum
generi tum philosophiae deditus fuit quam qui illum
ignorabant arbitrabantur, nec vero ineunte aetate
solum sed et pro quaestore aUquot annos et in ipso
bello, in quo ita magna rei miUtaris esse occupatio
solet ut non multum imperatori sub ipsis pelHbus
otii rehnquatur. Cum autem e philosophis ingenio
* profuhs,rA codd. ffire omnes.
• At the end of 67 b.c.
^ Cicero is doubtless thinkin^ cliiefly of the suppression
of thc revolutionary conspiracy led by Catihne.
468
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), i.— ii.
ol" those that he had read of. He also possessed so
miich wisdom and justice in the work of estabhshing
and reforminggovernments that Asia to-day continues
to observe the institutions and follow in the footsteps
of Lucullus. But although greatly to the advantage
of the state, nevertheless those vast powers of char-
acter and of intellect were absent abroad, out of the
sight of both the law-courts and the senate, for a
longer time than I could have wished. Moreover
when he returned " victorious from the Mithridatic
War, the chicanery of his enemies postponed his
triumph three years later than it ought to have taken
place ; for it was I as consul who virtually led into
the city the chariot of this glorious hero, of the value
to me of whose advice and influence at that period in
the most important affairs ^ I might speak if it did
not involve speaking about myself, which at this time
is not necessary ; and so I will rob him of the tribute
due to him r.-ther than combine it with my own praise.
4 II. However, the things in LucuUus^s career that
deserved the honour of a national celebration have
fairly well won their tribute of fame in both Greek
and Latin records. But my knowledge of these facts
about his pubhc life I share with many persons ; the
following more private details I have often learnt
from himself in company with few others — for
Lucullus was more ardently devoted both to letters
of all sorts and to philosophy than persons who did
not know him supposed, and indeed not only at an
early age but also for some years during his pro-
quaestorship, and even on active service, when
miHtary duties are usually so engrossing as to leave
a commander not much leisure when actually under
canvas. But as Philo's pupil Antiochus was deemed
4,69
CICERO
scientiaque putaretur Antiochus Philonis auditor
excellere, eum secum et quaestor habuit et post
aliquot annos imperator, quique esset ea memoria
quam ante dixi, ea saepe audiendo facile cogno^it
quae vel semel audita meminisse potuisset. Delecta-
batur autem miritice lectione librorum de quibus
audiebat.^
6 Ac vereor interdum ne talium personarum cum
amplificare veUm minuam etiam gloriam. Sunt enim
multi qui omnino Graecas non ament litteras, plures
qui philosophiam ; rehqui- etiam si haec non impro-
bant,^ tamen earum rerum disputationem principibus
civitatis non ita decoram putant.* Ego autem cum
Graecas htteras M. Catonem in senectute didicisse
acceperim, P. autem Africani historiae loquantur
in legatione illa nobiU quam ante censuram obiit
Panaetium unum omnino comitem fuisse, nec httera-
rum Graecarum nec philosophiae iam ullum auctorem
6 requiro. Restat ut iis respondeam qui sermonibus
eius modi noUnt personas tam graves inhgari. Quasi
vero clarorum virorum aut tacitos congressus esse
oporteat aut ludicros sermones aut rerum conloquia
leviorum ! Etenim si quodam in Hbro vere est a nobis
philosophia laudata, profecto eius tractatio optimo
atque ampUssimo quoque dignissima est, nec quid-
* audierat Ernefiti. ^ reliqiii qui codd. multi.
2 ed. : improbent codd.
* •pnXjeJit codd. fere omnes.
" To the kings of Egypt and Asia in alliance with Rome,
144 B.c. Scipio Africanus Minor was censor 143 b.c.
^ Cicero's Hortensius.
470
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), ii.
the cliief among philosopliers for intellcet and learn-
ino;, he kept him in his company both when qiiaestor
and when a few years later he became general, and
having the powerful memory that I have spoken of
ah-eady he easily learnt from frequent repetition
doctrines that he would have been quite capable of
learning froni a single hearing. Moreover, he took
a marvellous dehght in reading the books about
which Antiochus used to discourse to him.
6 And I am sometimes afraid lest in regard to men
of this character my desire to magnify their fame
may actually diminish it. For there are many people
wlio have no love for Greek hterature at all, and more
who have none for philosophy ; while the residue
even if they do not disapprove of these studies never-
theless think that the discussion of such topics is
not specially becoming for great statesmen. But for
my own part, as I have been told that Marcus Cato
learnt Greek Uterature in his old age, while history
states that Pubhus Africanus, on the famous embassy "
on which he went before his censorship, had Panaetius
as absolutely the sole member of his staff, I need
not look any further for someone to support the
claims either of Greek hterature or of philosophy.
6 It remains for me to reply to the critics who are Combina.
unwilhng to have pubhc characters of such dignity study and
entangled in conversations of this nature. As if for- ?5'^'r ^^
sooth persons of distinction ought to hold their meet- iradition
ings in silence, or else engage in frivolous conversa- [-fg^^'"*"
tion or discussion on hghter topics ! In fact, if there
is truth in the praise of philosophy that occupies a
certain volume ^ of mine, it is obvious that its pursuit
is supremely worthy of all persons of the highcst
character and eminence, and the only precaution that
471
CICERO
quam aliud videndum est nobis quos populus Romanus
hoc in gradu conlocavit nisi ne quid privatis studiis
de opera publica detrahamus. Quodsi cum fungi
munere debebamus non modo operam nostram num-
quam a populari coetu removimus sed ne Utteram
quidem ullam fecimus nisi forensem, quis reprendet
otium nostrum, qui in eo non modo nosmet ipsos
hebescere et languere nolumus sed etiam ut plurimis
prosimus enitimur ? Gloriam vero non modo non
minui sed etiam augeri arbitramur eorum quorum
ad popularis inlustrisque laudes has etiam minus
7 notas minusque pervolgatas adiungimus. Sunt etiam
qui negent in iis qui in nostris Ubris disputent fuisse
earum rerum de quibus disputatur scientiam : qui
mihi videntur non solum vivis sed etiam mortuis
invidere.
III. Restat unum genus reprehensorum quibus
Academiae ratio non probatur. Quod gravius ferre-
mus si quisquam ullam discipUnam philosophiae pro-
baret praeter eam quam ipse sequeretur. Nos autem
quoniam contra omnes dicere quae^ videntur solemus,
non possumus quin aUi a nobis dissentiant recusare :
quamquam nostra quidem causa faciUs est, qui verum
invenire sine uUa contentione volumus idque summa
cura studioque conquirimus. Etsi enim omnis cog-
nitio multis est obstructa difficultatibus, eaque est et
in ipsis rebus obscuritas et in iudiciis nostris infirmitas
^ dicere quae Reid : qui dicere quae codd., qui scire sibi
Caut.
" ?*.<?., the dramatis personae of the dialoprues that foUow,
" C'f. 'preach Christ of contention,' Philippians i. 16,
and Hebrews i. 3, Thesanlonians ii. 2.
472
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), ii.— iii.
need be observed by us whom the Roman nation has
j^laced in this rank is to prevent our private studies
tVom encroaching at all upon our pubhc interest.
But if at the time when we had official duties to
perform we not only never removed our interest
from the national assembly but never even put pen
to paper save on matters of pubhc business, who
will criticize our leisure, if therein we not only are
reluctant to allow ourselves to grow dull and slack
but also strive to be of service to the greatest number
of men ? At the same time in our judgement we are
not merely not diminishing but actually increasing
the fame of those persons " to whose pubhc and dis-
tinguished glories we also append these less known
7 and less well advertised claims to distinction. There
are also people who declare that the personages who
debate in our books did not really possess a know-
ledge of the subjects debated ; but these critics to
my eye appear to be jealous of the dead as well as of
the living.
III. There remains one class of adverse critics who xhe
do not approve the Academic system of philosophy. nhUosophy
This would trouble us more if anybody approved any :efended
set of doctrines except the one of which he himself iio|Satism.
was a follower. But for our part, since it is our
habit to put forward our views in conflict with all
schools, we cannot refuse to allow others to differ from
us ; although we at all events have an easy brief to
argue, who desire to discover the truth without any
contention,^ and who pursue it ^\ith the fuUest dih-
gence and devotion. For even though many diffi-
culties hinder every branch of knowledge, and both
the subjects themselves and our faculties of judge-
ment involve such a lack of certainty that the most
473
CICERO
ut non sine causa antiquissimi et doctissimi invenire
se posse quod cuperent diffisi sint, tamen nec illi
defecerunt neque nos studium exquirendi defatigati
relinquemus ; neque nostrae disputationes quidquam
aliud agunt nisi ut in utramque partem dicendo
eliciant et tamquam exprimant aliquid quod aut
8 verum sit aut ad id quam proxime accedat. Nec
inter nos et eos qui se scire arbitrantur quidquam
interest nisi quod illi non dubitant quin ea vera sint
quae defendunt, nos probabilia multa habemus, quae
sequi facile, adfirmare vix possumus ; hoc autem
liberiores et solutiores sumus quod integra nobis est
iudicandi potestas nec ut omnia quae praescripta a
quibusdam et quasi imperata sint defendamus neces-
sitate uUa cogimur. Nam ceteri primum ante tenentur
adstricti quam quid esset optimum iudicare potue-
runt, deinde infirmissimo tempore aetatis aut ob-
secuti amico cuipiam aut una alicuius quem primum
audierunt oratione capti de rebus incognitis iudicant,
et ad quamcumque sunt disciplinam quasi tempestate
delati ad eam tamquam ad saxum adhaerescunt.
9 Nam quod dicunt omnino se credere ei quem iudicent
fuisse sapientem,probarem si id ipsumrudes et indocti
iudicare potuissent (statuere enim qui sit sapiens vel
maxime videtur esse sapientis) ; sed, ut potuerint,^
potuerunt omnibus rebus auditis, cognitis etiam re-
^ potuerint inseruit Lambinus.
" Exprimant, a metaphor from sculpture ; no doubt the
word properly denotcd the preUminary model in clay.
474
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), iii.
ancient and learned thinkers liad good reason for
distrusting tlieir ability to discover what they desired,
nevertheless they did not give up, nor yet will we
abandon in exhaustion our zeal for research ; and
the sole object of our discussions is by arguing on
both sides to draw out and give shape to^* some result
that may be eitlier true or the nearest possible ap-
8 proximation to the truth. Nor is there any difference
between ourselves and those who think that they
have positive knowledge except that they have no
doubt that their tenets are true, whereas we hold
many doctrines as probable, which we can easily act
upon but can scarcely advance as certain ; yet we are
more free and untrammeiled in that we possess our
power of judgement uncurtailed, and are bound by
no compulsion to support all the dogmas laid down
for us ahnost as edicts by certain masters. For all
other people in the first place are held in close bond-
age placed upon them before they were able to judge
what doctrine was the best, and secondly they form
judgements about matters as to which they know
nothing at the most incompetent period of hfe, either
under the guidance of some friend or under the in-
fluence of a single harangue from the first lecturer
that they attended, and chng as to a rock to wliatever
9 theory they are carried to by stress of weather. For
as to their assertion that the teacher whom they judge
to have been a wise man commands their absolute
trust, I would agree to this if to make that judgement
could actually have lain within the power of un-
learned no\ices (for to decide who is a wise man
seems to be a task that specially requires a wise man
to undertake it) ; but granting that it lay within
their power, it was only possible for them after hear-
475
CICERO
liquorum sententiis, iudicaverunt autem re seme]
audita atque^ ad unius se auctoritatem contulerunt.
Sed nescio quo modo plerique errare malunt eamque
sententiam quam adamaverunt pugnacissime defen-
dere quam sine pertinacia quid constantissime dicatur
exquirere.
Quibus de rebus et alias saepe nobis multa quae-
sita et disputata sunt et quondam in Hortensii villa
quae est ad Baulos, cum eo Catulus et Lucullus
nosque ipsi postridie venissemus quam apud Catulum
fuissemus. Quo quidem etiam maturius venimus
quod erat constitutum, si ventus esset, Lucullo in
Neapolitanum, mihi in Pompeianum navigare. Cum
igitur pauca in xysto locuti essemus, tum eodem in
spatio consedimus.
10 IV. Hic Catulus, " Etsi heri," inquit, " id quod
quaerebatur paene explicatum est, ut tota fere
quaestio tractata videatur, tamen exspecto ea quae
te polhcitus es, Luculle, ab Antiocho audita dicturum. "
" Equidem," inquit Hortensius, " feci plus quam
vellem, totam enim rem Lucullo integram servatam
oportuit. Et tamen fortasse servata est ; a me enim
ea quae in promptu erant dicta sunt, a Lucullo autem
reconditiora desidero." Tum ille," Non sane," inquit,
** Hortensi, conturbat me exspectatio tua, etsi nihil
^ atque inseruit Lamhinus.
" i.e.^ the colonnade or xystus in which they had been
strolHng.
476
ACADEMICA, II. (Luclillus). iii.— iv.
ing all the facts and ascertaining the views of nll
the other schools as well, whereas they gave their
verdict after a single hearing of the case, and enrolled
themselves under the authority of a single master.
But somehow or other most men prefer to go wrong,
and to defend tooth and nail the system for which
they have come to feel an affection, rather than to
lay aside obstinacy and seek for the doctrine that is
most consistent.
Beside many other occasions on which we have Drarmti»
engaged in long mvestigations and discussions oi
these subjects, there was one at Hortensius's country-
house at Bauh, Catulus, Lucullus and we ourselves
having come there on the day after we had been at
Catulus's. We had in fact arrived there rath.er early
because Lucullus had the intention of saiUng to his
place at Naples and I to mine at Pompei, if there was
a ^^ind. So after a Uttle talk in the colonnade, we
then sat down on a seat in the same w alk."
10 IV. Here Catulus said, " It is true that our inquiry lucuHus,
of yesterday was almost fully cleared up, so that J^^J ^^^^^'^®
nearly the whole of the subject now appears to have Antiocbus,
been handled ; but nevertheless I am waiting with poSk^"^
interest for you, Lucullus, to fulfil your promise of 'T;gainst
teUing us the doctrines that you heard from Anti- (§§To-62).
ochus." " For my part," said Hortensius, " I coukl
wish that I had not gone so far, for the whole subject
ought to have been reserved in its entirety for
LucuUus. And yet perhaps it has been reserved,
for it was the more obvious points that were ex-
pounded by me, whcreas I look to LucuUus to give
us the more abstruse doctrines." " Your expectancy,
Hortensius," rejoined LucuUus, " does not, it is true,
upset me, although there is nothing that so much
R 477
CICERO
est iis qui placere volunt tam adversarium. sed quia
non laboro quam valde ea quae dico probaturus sim,
eo minus conturbor ; dicam enim nec mea nec ea
in quibus, si non fuerint, non vinci me malim quam
\incere. Sed mehercule, ut quidem nunc se causa
habet, etsi hesterno sermone labefactata est, mihi
tamen videtur esse verissima. Agam igitur sicut
Antiochus agebat (nota enim mihi res est, nam et
vacuo animo illum audiebam et magno studio, eadem
de re etiam saepius), ut etiam maiorem exspecta-
tionem raei faciam quam modo fecit Hortensius."
11 Cum ita esset exorsus, ad audiendum animos erexi-
mus ; at ille " Cum Alexandriae pro quaestore " in-
quit " essem, fuit Antiochus mecum, et erat iam antea
Alexandriae famiharis Antiochi Heraclitus Tyrius,
qui et Clitomachum multos annos et Philonem
audierat, homo sane in ista philosophia, quae nunc
prope dimissa revocatur, probatus et nobilis ; cum
quo Antiochum saepe disputantem audiebam, sed
utrumque leniter. Et quidem isti hbri duo Philonis,
de quibus heri dictum a Catulo est, tum erant adlati
Alexandriam tumque primum in Antiochi manus
venerant : et homo natura lenissimus (nihil enim
poterat fieri illo mitius) stomachari tamen coepit.
Mirabar, nec enim umquam ante videram ; at ille
" Lucullus was sent by Sulla to Alexandria, 87-86 b.c,
to try to raise a fleet.
* i.e.t by Cicero.
478
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), iv.
handicaps people desirous of winning approval, but
I am less upset bccause I do not mind how far I am
successful in gaining assent for the views that I ex-
pound ; for the doctrines that I am going to state are
not my own, nor are they ones about which, if they
are unsound, I should not wish rather to be refuted
than to carry the day. But I protest that even
though my case was shaken by yesterday's discus-
sion, it nevertheless appears to me to be profoundly
true — at least as it stands at present. I will there-
fore adopt what used to be the procedure of Antiochus
(for I am famihar with the subject, since I used to
hear him with undistracted attention and with great
interest, even more than once on the same topic),
so as to cause even more to be expected of me than
11 Hortensius did just now." On his beginning in this
strain we aroused our attention to hsten to him ;
whereupon he proceeded : " When I was deputy-
quaestor at Alexandria,'* Antiochus was in my com-
pany, and Antiochus's friend, the Tyrian Herachtus,
was at Alexandria already ; he had been for many
years a pupil of both Chtomachus and Philo, and was
undoubtedly a person of standing and distinction in
the school of philosophy in question, which after
having been almost abandoned is now being revived ^ ;
I often used to hear Antiochus arguing with Hera-
chtus, both however in a gentle manner. And in-
deed those two volumes of Philo mentioned yester-
day by Catulus had then reached Alexandria and
had then for the first time come into Antiochus's
hands ; whereupon though by nature one of the
gentlest of people (in fact nothing could have been
kinder than he was) he nevertheless began to lose
his temper. This surprised me, as I had never seen
479
CICERO
Heracliti memoriam implorans quaerere ex eo vide-
renturne illa Philonis aut ea num vel e Philone vel
ex ullo Academico audivisset aliquando. Negabat ;
Philonis tamen scriptum agnoscebat, nec id quidem
dubitari poterat, nam aderant mei famihares, docti
homines, P. et C. SeUi et Tetrilius Rogus qui se illa
audiiisse Romae de Philone et ab eo ipso illos duos
12 hbros dicerent descripsisse. Tum et illa dixit An-
tiochus quae heri Catulus commemoravit a patre suo
dicta Philoni^ et aha plura, nec se tenuit quin contra
suum doctorem hbrum etiam ederet qui Sosus in-
scribitur. Tum igitur cum et Herachtum studiose
audirem contra Antiochum disserentem et item
Antiochum contra Academicos, dedi Antiocho operam
dihgentius, ut causam ex eo totam cognoscerem.
Itaque complures dies adhibito Herachto doctis-
que compluribus et in iis Antiochi fratre Aristo et
praeterea Aristone et Dione, quibus ille secundum
fratrem plurimum tribuebat, multum temporis in
ista una disputatione consumpsimus. Sed ea pars
quae contra Philonem erat praetermittenda est,
minus enim acer est adversarius is qui ista quae sunt
heri defensa negat Academicos omnino dicere ; etsi
1 [Philoni] ? Reid.
• i.e., the New Academy, as § 12 fin.
• These persons are otherwise unknown.
' i.e.t at the beginning of the lost Book I. of the first
edition of Academica ; in the second edition the topic was
traiisferred to Cicero and occupied the lost Book II.
<* Sosus, hke Antiochus a native of Ascalon, seems to have
gone over from the Academy to Stoicism.
• t.e., when a copy is made, that is the name written on it.
' See i. 12 n.
» i.e.y by Catulus, in the lost Book I. of the first edition,
480
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), iv.
him do so before ; but he kept appealing to Hera-
ciitus's recollection and aslving him whether he
rcally thought that those doctrines were Philo's, or
whether he had ever heard them either from Philo
or from any member of the Academy." Herachtus
always answered No ; but still he recognized it as a
work of Philo's, and indeed this could not be doubted,
for my learned friends Publius and Gaius Sehus and
Tetrilius Rogus ^ were there to say that they had
heard these doctrines from Philo at Rome and had
copied down the two books in question from Philo's
12 own manuscript. Then Antiochus put forward the
views that yesterday Catulus told us *= had been put
forward in regard to Philo by his father, and also a
number of others, and did not restrain himself even
from publishing a book against his o^vn teacher,^
the book to which is given^ the title of Sosus.
On this occasion therefore when I heard both Hera-
chtus earnestly arguing against Antiochus and also
Antiochus against the Academics, I gave my atten-
tion more closely to Antiochus, in order to learn
from him his whole case. Accordingly when we had
for quite a number of days had Heraclitus \Wth us
and quite a number of other learned men, among
them Antiochus's brother Aristus,^ and also Aristo
and Dio, to whom he used to assign the greatest
authority next to his brother, we spent a great deal
of time in this single discussion. But we must pass
over the part of it that was directed against Philo,
for he is a less keen opponent who declares that those
doctrines maintained yesterday ^ are not the doctrines
of the Academy at all ; for though what he says is
which bore his name; the subject was given to Cicero in the
lost Book n. of the second edition (see p. 406).
■181
CICERO
enim mentitur, tamen est adversarius lenior. Ad
Arcesilan Carneademque veniamus."
13 V. Quae cum dixisset, sic rursus exorsus est : " Pri-
mum mihi videmini " — me autem [nomine]^ appellabat
— " cum veteres physicos nominatis, facere idem quod
seditiosi cives solent cum aliquos ex antiquis claros
viros proferunt quos dicant fuisse populares ut eorum
ipsi similes esse videantur. Repetunt enim a^ P.
Valerio qui exactis regibus primo anno consul fuit,
coDomemorant reliquos qui leges populares de pro-
vocationibus tulerint cum consules essent ; tum ad hos
notiores, C. Flaminium qui legem agrariam aliquot
annis ante secundum Punicum bellum tribunus plebis
tulerit invito senatu et postea bis consul factus sit,
L. Cassium, Q. Pompeiimi ; illi quidem etiam P.
Africanima referre in eundem numerum solent. Duos
vero sapientissimos et clarissimos fratres P. Crassum
et P. Scaevolam aiunt Ti. Graccho auctores legum
fuisse, alterum quidem (ut videmus) palam, alterum
(ut suspicantur) obscurius. Addunt etiam C. Marium,
et de hoc quidem nihil mentiuntur. Horum nomini-
bus tot virorum atque tantorum expositis eorum se
14 institutum sequi dicunt. SimiUter vos, cum pertur-
bare ut illi rem pubhcam sic vos philosophiam bene
iam constitutam veUtis, Empedoclen, Anaxagoran,
Democritum, Parmeniden, Xenophanem, Platonem
^ [nomine] ed.
" enim a Reid : iam aut iam a codd.
482
ACADKMICA, II. (Lucullus), iv.— v.
not true, he is a mildcr adversary. Let us come to
Arcesilas and Carneades."
13 V. \Vhen he had said this he started again as (i) xhe New
follows : " In the first place I feel that you ^entle- Academy
»> . 11 n 1 . perverts
men — it was to me that he was actually speakmg, historyithe
— " when you cite the names of the old natural ^vTre^"*^
philosophers, are doing just what citizens raising a dogmatic,
sedition usually do, when they quote some famous
personages of antiquity as having been of the people's
party, so as to makc themselves appear to rescmble
them. For they go back to Publius Valerius who
was consul in the first year after the expulsion of 509B.a
the kings, and they quote all the other persons who
when consuls carried popular legislation about pro-
cesses of appeal ; then they come to the better
known cases of Gaius Flaminius, who when tribune
of the plebs some years before the second Punic War 232 b.o.
carried an agrarian law against the will of the senate
and afterwards t^Wce became consul, and of Lucius
Cassius and Quintus Pompeius ; indeed these people
have a way of including even PubHus Africanus in
the same Hst. But they say that the two very wise
and distinguished brothers Pubhus Crassus and Pub-
hus Scaevola were supporters of the laws of Tiberius
Gracchus, the former (as we read) openly, the latter i33 ao.
(as they suspect) more covertly. They also add
Gaius Marius, and about him at all events they say
nothing that is untrue. After parading all this hst
of names of men of such distinction they declare that
they themselves are following the principle set up
14 by them. Similarly your school, whenever you want
to upset an already well-estabhshed system of philo-
sophy just as they did a pohtical system, quote
Empedocles, Anaxagoras, DemocrituSj Parmenides,
483
CICERO
etiam et Socratem profertis. Sed neque Saturninus,
ut nostrum inimicum potissimum nominem, simile
quidquam habuit veterum illorum, nec Arcesilae
calumnia conferenda est cum Democriti verecundia.
Et tamen isti physici raro admodum, cum haerent
aliquo loco, exclamant quasi mente incitati — Empe-
docles quidem ut interdum mihi furere videatur —
abstrusa esse omnia, nihil nos sentire, nihil cernere,
nihii omnino quale sit posse reperire ; maiorem autem
partem mihi quidem omnes isti videntur nimis etiam
quaedam adfirmare, plusque profiteri se scire quam
15 sciant. Quodsi illi tum in novis rebus quasi modo
nascentes haesitaverunt, nihilne tot saecuHs, summis
ingeniis, maximis studiis explicatum putamus ?
nonne cum iam philosophorum disciplinae gravis-
simae constitissent, tum exortus est, ut in optima
re pubhca Ti. Gracchus qui otium perturbaret, sic
Arcesilas qui constitutam philosophiam everteret,
et in eorum auctoritate dehtesceret qui negavissent
quidquam sciri aut percipi posse ? Quorum e numero
tollendus est et Plato et Socrates — alter quia re-
hquit perfectissimam discipHnam, Peripateticos et
Academicos, nominibus differentes, re congruentes,
a quibus Stoici ipsi verbis magis quam sententiis dis-
" i.e., to put Arcesilas in a Hst of philosophers that includes
Democritus is Hke classing a modern demagogue with the
democratic statesmen of history. Saturninus, the colleague
of Marius, finally went beyond him, and was killed by the
mob.
484
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), v.
Xenophanes, and even Plato and Socrates. Biit
neither had Saturninus — to cite in particular the
name of the enemy of my family — any feature re-
sembhn<T those men of old, nor can the chicanery of
Arcesilas be compared with the modesty of Demo-
critus." And nevertheless your natural philosophers
do rather rarely, when brought to a standstill at some
topic, cry out in an excited sort of manner — Empe-
docles indeed in a way that sometimes makes me
think him raving — saying that all things are hidden
and that we perceive nothing, discern nothing, are
utterly unable to discover the real nature of any-
thing ; although for the most part all your school
seem to me at all events to be only too confident in
some of their assertions and to profess to know more
15 than they really do. But if those old thinkers found
themselves floundering hke babies just born in a
new world, do we imagine that all these generations
and these consummate intellects and elaborate in-
vestigations have not succeeded in making anything
clearer ? Is it not the case that, just as in the
noblest of states Tiberius Gracchus arose to disturb
the atmosphere of peace, so when the most authori-
tative schools of philosophy had now come to a stand-
still, then there arose Arcesilas to overthrow the
estabhshed philosophy, and to lurk behind the
authority of those whom he asserted to have denied
the possibihty of all knowledge and perception ?
From the hst of these we must remove both Plato
and Socrates — the former because he left behind
him a most consummate system of thought, the
Peripatetic School and the Academy, which have
different names but agree in substance, and from
which the Stoics themselves disagreed more in terms
485
CICERO
senserunt ; Socrates autem de se ipse detrahens in
disputatione plus tribuebat iis quos volebat refellere ;
ita cum aliud diceret atque sentiret, libenter uti
solitus est ea dissimulatione quam Graeci eipwvetav
vocant ; quam ait etiam in Africano fuisse Fannius,
idque propterea \-itiosum in illo non putandum quod
idem fuerit in Socrate.
16 VI. " Sed fuerint illa vetera.^ si voltis, incognita :
nihilne est igitur actum quod investigata sunt postea-
quam Arcesilas, Zenoni (ut putatur) obtrectans nihil
no\d reperienti sed emendanti superiores immuta-
tione verborum, dum huius definitiones labefactare
volt conatus est clarissimis rebus tenebras obducere ?
Cuius primo non admodum probata ratio, quamquam
floruit cum acumine ingenii tum admirabiU quodam
lepore dicendi, proxime a Lacyde solo retenta est,
post autem confecta a Carneade, qui est quartus
ab Arcesila, audivit enim Hegesinum qui Euandrum
audierat Lacydi discipulum, cum Arcesilae Lacydes
fuisset. Sed ipse Carneades diu tenuit, nam nona-
ginta vixit annos, et qui illum audierant admodum
floruerunt, e quibus industriae plurimum in Chto-
macho fuit (declarat multitudo hbrorum), ingenii
non minus in Hagnone,^ in Charmada eloquentiae,
1 veteribus Bentley.
* in Kaprnone Christ : in hac nonne {et alia) codd.i in
Aeschine Davies.
• Little or nothing is known of this philosopher or of the
others mentioned in this section.
486
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), v.— vi.
than in opinions. As for Socrates, he used to de-
preciate himself in discussion and to assign greater
weight to those whom he wished to refute ; thus,
as he said something other than what he thought, he
was fond of regularly employing the practice of dis-
sembhng that the Greeks call irony, which Fannius
says was also a feature of Africanus, and one not to
be deemed a fault in him, for the reason that Socrates
had the same habit.
16 VI. " But let us grant if you wish that those and phiio-
ancient doctrines represented no real knowledge ; p°rogress?d
has nothing then been achieved by their having
been under examination ever since the time when
Arcesilas, criticizing Zeno (so it is supposed) as
making no new discoveries but only correcting
his predecessors by verbal alterations, in his desire
to undermine Zeno's definitions attempted to cover
with darkness matters that were exceedingly clear ?
His system was at first not very much accepted,
although he was distinguished both by acuteness
of intellect and by a certain admirable charm of
style, and at the first stage it was preserved by
Lacydes only, but afterwards it was completed by
Carneades, who is the fourth in Hne from Arcesilas,
having attended the courses of Hegesinus " who had
attended Evander, the pupil of Lacydes as Lacydes
had been the pupil of Arcesilas. But Carneades
himself held the school for a long time, for he Uved
to be ninety, and those who had been his pupils were
of considerable eminence, CHtomachus being the one
among them most distinguished for industry (as is
proved by the large number of his books), though
there was an equal amount of talent in Hagnon, of
eloquence in Charmades, and of charm in Melanthius
487
CICERO
in Melanthio Rhodio suavitatis. Bene autem nosse
17 Carneaden Stratoniceus Metrodorus putabatur. lam
Clitomacho Philo vester operam multos annos dedit ;
Philone autem vivo patrocinium Academiae non de-
fuit. Sed quod nos facere nunc ingredimur ut contra
Academicos disseramus, id quidam e philosophis et ii
quidem non mediocres faciundum omnino non puta-
bant, nec vero esse ullam rationem disputare cum iis
qui nihil probarent, Antipatrumque Stoicum qui
multus in eo fuisset reprehendebant ; nec definiri
aiebant necesse esse quid esset cognitio aut perceptio
aut (si verbum e verbo volumus) comprehensio, quara
KaTdXrjxpLv illi vocant, eosque qui persuadere vellent
esse aUquid quod comprehendi et percipi posset
inscienter facere dicebant, propterea quod nihil esset
clarius kvapy^ia. (ut Graeci, perspicuitatem aut evi-
dentiam nos, si placet, nominemus, fabricemurque si
opus erit verba, ne hic sibi " — me appellabat iocans—
" hoc hcere putet soh) : sed tamen orationem nuUam
putabant inlustriorem ipsa evidentia reperiri posse,
nec ea quae tam clara essent definienda censebant.
Ahi autem negabant se pro hac evidentia quidquam
priores fuisse dicturos, sed ad ea quae contra dice-
rentur dici oportere putabant, ne qui fallerentur.
18 Plerique tamen et delinitiones ipsarum etiam eviden-
» See i. 41 n.
* A general term denoting things that are self-evident and
do not require proof, used as a technical term by Zeno to
denote the characteristic of KaTaXrjTTTiKr] <pavTaaia.
488
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), vi.
of Rhodes. But the Metrodorus who was a pupil of
Stratonicus was believed to have been well acquainted
17 with Carneades. Again Philo of your school for Piiiio'8
many years gave his attention to Chtomachus ; and zeno went
while Philo hved the Academy did not lack advocacy. ^"^^ ^"*
But the undertaking upon which we are now entering,
the refutation of the Academics, was entirely ruled
out by some of the philosophers, and those indeed
men of no inconsiderable standing, and they held
that there was really no sense in arguing -svith thinkers
who sanctioned nothing as proved, and they criticized
the Stoic Antipater for spending much time in this ;
and they also asserted that there was no need to
define the essential nature of knowledge or percep-
tion or (if we wish to give a hteral translation)
' mental grasp,' the Stoic term catalepsis,"' and main-
tained that those who tried to prove that there is
something that can be grasped and perceived were
acting unscientifically, because there was nothing
clearer than enargeia ^ (as the Greeks call it : let us
term it perspicuousness or evldentness, if you will,
and let us manufacture terms if necessary, so as not
to let our friend here " — this was a jocular shot at me
— " think that he has a monopoly of this hcence) :
well, they thought that no argument could be dis-
covered that was clearer than evidentness itself, and
they deemed that truths so manifest did not need
defining. But others said that they would not have
opened proceedings "with any speech in defence of
this evidentness, but held that the proper course was
for argument to be directed to answering the case
for the prosecution, so that they might not be some-
18 how taken in. Still a good many of them do not
object to definitions even of evident things them-
489
CICERO
tium rerum non improbant et rem idoneam de qua
quaeratur et homines dignos quibuscum disseratur
putant. Philo autem dum nova quaedam commovet
quod ea sustinere vix poterat quae contra Academi-
corimi pertinaciam dicebantur, et aperte mentitur,
ut est reprehensus a patre Catulo, et, ut docuit An-
tiochus, in id ipsum se induit quod timebat. Cum
enim ita negaret quidquam esse quod comprehendi
posset (id enim volumus esse dKaTa.X-i]7rTov ^), si illud
esset, sicut Zeno definiret, tale visum (iam enim hoc
pro (fiavToxrLa verbum satis hesterno sermone trivimus),
visum igitur impressum effictumque ex eo unde esset
quale esse non posset ex eo unde non esset (id nos a
Zenone definitum rectissime dicimus, qui enim potest
quidquam comprehendi ut plane confidas perceptum
id cognitumque esse, quod est tale quale vel falsum
esse possit ?) — hoc cum infirmat tollitque Philo,
iudicium tollit incogniti et cogniti ; ex quo efficitur
nihil posse comprehendi — ita imprudens eo quo
minime volt revolvitur. Quare omnis oratio contra
Academiam ita^ suscipitur a nobis ut retineamus eam
* KaraXrjTrrou edd. nonnulU.
2 ita inseruit ed.
490
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), vi.
selves, and they think that any fact is a suitable
matter for investigation and that human beings
deserve to have their views discussed. But Philo,
in raising certain revohitionary doctrines because he
was scarcely able to withstand the usual arguments
against the obstinacy of the Academics, manifestly
propounds what is not true, as he was blamed for
doing by the elder Catulus, and also, as Antiochus
proved, himself shpped into the very position that
he was afraid of. For when he thus maintained
that there was nothing that could be grasped (that
is the expression that we choose in rendering
acatalepton "), if that ' presentation ' of which he
spoke (for we have by this time sufficiently habituated
oursehes by our yesterday's conversation to this
rendering of pkaniasia) was, as Zeno defined it, a
presentation impressed and moulded from the object
from which it came in a form such as it could not
have if it came from an object that was not the one
that it actually did come from (we declare that this
definition of Zeno's is absolutely correct, for how
can anything be grasped in such a way as to make
you absolutely confident that it has been perceived
and kno^\Ti, if it has a form that could belong to it
even if it were false ?) — when Philo weakens and
abohshes this, he abohshes the criterion between the
unknowable and the knowable ; which leads to the
inference that nothing can be grasped — so in-
cautiously does he come round to the position that
he most wants to avoid. Therefore the whole de-
fence of the case against the Academy is undertaken
by us on the hne of preserving the process of defini-
" To be accurately expressed, the sense requires the
positive catalepton.
491
CICERO
definitionem quara Philo voluit evertere ; quam nisi
obtinemus, percipi nihil posse concedimus.
19 VII. " Ordiamur igitur a sensibus, quorum ita clara
iudicia et certa sunt ut si optio naturae nostrae
detur et ab ea deus aliqui requirat contentane sit
suis Integris incorruptisque sensibus an postulet
melius aliquid, non \ddeam quid quaerat amplius.
Nec vero hoc loco exspectandum est dum de remo
inflexo aut de collo columbae respondeam, non enim
is sum qui quidquid videtur tale dicam esse quale
videatur. Epicurus hoc viderit, et alia multa ; meo
autem iudicio ita est maxima in sensibus veritas, si
et sani sunt ac valentes et omnia removentur quae
obstant et impediunt. Itaque et lumen mutari saepe
volumus et situs earum rerimi quas intuemur et
intervalla aut contrahimus aut diducimus multaque
facimus usque eo dum aspectus ipse fidem faciat sui
iudici. Quod idem fit in vocibus, in odore, in sapore,
ut nemo sit nostrum qui in sensibus sui cuiusque
20 generis iudicium requirat acrius. Adhibita vero
exercitatione et arte, ut oculi pictura teneantur,
aures cantibus,^ quis est quin cernat quanta vis sit
in sensibus ? Quam multa vident pictores in umbris
et in eminentia quae nos non videmus ! quam multa
quae nos fugiunt in cantu exaudiunt in eo genere
exercitati, qui primo inflatu tibicinis Antiopam esse
^ ut . . . cantibus secl. Davies.
" i.e.^ an oar half in the water, as seen from the boat ;
this case of refraction and the changing colours of a pigeon's
neck were instances of apparent deception of the senses much
used by the Sceptics ; c/. § 79.
492
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), vi. — vii.
tion which Philo wished to overthrow ; and unless
we bucceed in upholding it, we adniit that nothing
can be perceived.
19 VII. " Let us begin therefore from the senses, (2)Sceptic.
whose verdicts are so clear and certain that if human '-."^"^ ^^^^^
11. 1 . 1 to inaction
nature were given the choice, and were interrogated andto
by some god as to whether it was content with its ih°°sTn3?s'
own senses in a sound and undamaged state or de- gi^e
manded something better, I cannot see what more Srknow-
it could ask for. Nor indeed is it necessary to dehiv ^^^^e and
1 . . 1 -1 T 1 1 r- 1 * science.
at tms pomt while 1 answer about the case oi the
bent oar ** or the pigeon's neck, for I am not one to
assert that every object seen is really such as it
appears to be. Let Epicurus see to that, and a
number of other matters ; but in my judgement the
senses contain the highest truth, given that they are
sound and healthy and also that all obstacles and
hindrances are removed. That is why we often
desire a change of the hght and of the position of the
objects that we are observing, and diminish or enlarge
their distances from us, and take various measures,
until mere looking makes us trust the judgement that
it forms. The same is done in the case of sounds and
smell and taste, so that among us there is nobody
who desiderates keener powers of judgement in the
20 senses, each in its class. But when we add practice
and artistic training, to make our eyes sensitive to
painting and our ears to music, who is there who can
fail to remark the power that the senses possess ?
How many things painters see in shadows and in tlie
foreground which we do not see ! how many things
in music that escape us are caught by the hearing of
persons trained in that department of art, wlio when
the flute-player blows his first note say * That is
4,93
CICERO
aiunt aut Andromacham, cum id nos ne suspicemur
quidem ! Nihil necesse est de gustatu et odoratu
loqui, in quibus intellegentia, etsi vitiosa, est quae-
dam tamen. Quid de tactu, et eo quidem quem philo-
sophi interiorem vocant, aut doloris aut voluptatis,
in quo Cyrenaici solo putant veri esse iudicium quia
sentiatur ? Potestne igitur quisquam dicere inter
eum qui doleat et inter eum qui in voluptate sit
nihil interesse, aut ita qui sentiat non apertissime
21 insaniat ? Atqui quaha sunt haec quae sensibus per-
cipi dicimus, taha secuntur ea quae non sensibus
ipsis percipi dicuntur sed quodam modo sensibus,
ut haec : ' Illud est album, hoc dulce, canorum illud.
hoc bene olens, hoc asperum.' Animo iam haec tene-
mus comprehensa, non sensibus. ' Ille ' deinceps
* equus est, ille canis.' Cetera series deinde se-
quitur, maiora nectens, ut haec, quae quasi expletam
rerum comprehensionem amplectuntur : * Si homo
est, animal est mortale, rationis particeps.' Quo e
genere nobis notitiae rerum imprimuntur, sine quibus
nec intellegi quidquam nec quaeri disputarive potest.
22 Quodsi essent falsae notitiae (iwoLas enim notitias
appellare tu videbare) — si igitur essent hae falsae aut
eius modi visis impressae quaUa visa a falsis discerni
" Plays of Pacuvius and Erinius re.spectively.
^ i.e.t in the dialogue of the day before, in the lost first
edition of Book I.
491
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), vii.
Aniiope ' or ' Andromache,' ° when we have not
even a suspicion of it ! It is unnecessary to talk
at all about the faculties of taste and smell, which
possess a certain discernment, although it is of a
defective sort. Why speak of touch, and indeed of
the internal tactual sense, as the philosophers call it,
perceptive of either pain or pleasure, the sole basis,
as the Cyrenaics think, of our judgement of truth,
caused by the mere process of sensation ? Is it
therefore possible for anybody to say that there is no
difference between a person experiencing pain and
a person experiencing pleasure, or would not the
21 holder of this opinion be a manifest lunatic ? But
then whatever character belongs to these objects
which w^e say are perceived by the senses must belong
to that follomng set of objects which are said to
be perceived not by actual sensation but by a sort
of sensation, as for example : ' Yonder thing is
white, this thing is sweet, that one is melodious, this
fragrant, this rough.' This class of percepts consists
of comprehensions grasped by our mind, not by our
senses. Then * Yonder object is a horse, yonder a
dog.' Next follows the rest of the series hnking on
a chain of larger percepts, for instance the following,
which embrace as it were a fully completed grasp of
the objects : * If it is a human being, it is a rational
mortal animal.' From this class of percept are im-
printed upon us our notions of things, without which
all understanding and all investigation and dis-
22 cussion are impossible. But if false notions existed
(I understood you to employ ^ * notions ' to render
ennoiai) — well, if there were these false notions or
notions imprinted on the mind by appearances of a
kind that could not be distinguished from false ones,
CICERO
non possent, quo tandem iis modo uteremur ? quo
modo autem quid cuique rei consentaneum esset,
quid repugnaret, videremus ? Memoriae quidem
certe, quae non modo philosophiam sed omnem vitae
usum omnesque artes una maxime continet, nihil
omnino loci rehnquitur. Quae potest enim esse
memoria falsorum ? aut quid quisquam meminit
quod non animo comprehendit et tenet ? ars vero
quae potest esse nisi quae non ex una aut duabus sed
ex multis animi perceptionibus constat ? Quam^ si
subtraxeris, qui distingues artificem ab inscio ? non
enim fortuito hunc artificem dicemus esse, illum
negabimus, sed cum alterum percepta et compre-
hensa tenere videmus, alterum non item. Cumque
artium aHud eius modi genus sit ut tantum modo
animo rem cernat, ahud ut moliatur ahquid et faciat,
quo modo aut geometres cernere ea potest quae aut
nulla sunt aut internosci a falsis non possunt, aut is
qui fidibus utitur explere numeros et conficere versus ?
quod idem in similibus quoque artibus continget
quarum omne opus est in faciendo atque agendo,
quid enim est quod arte effici possit, nisi is qui artem
tractabit multa perceperit ?
23 VIII. " Maxime vero virtutum cognitio confirmat
percipi et comprehendi multa posse. In quibus sohs
inesse etiam scientiam dicimus (quam nos non com-
prehensionem modo rerum sed eam stabilem quoque
et immutabilem esse censemus), itemque sapientiam,
* quas Walker.
" Artifex denotes the pursuer of an ars^ an organized body
of knowledge, a science, whether theoretical or apphed in
practice. It includes here the musician (also regarded as a
poet), but the practice of music seems to be envisaged as
496
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), vii.— viii.
how pray coiild we act on them ? how moreover could
we see what is consistent with any given fact and
what inconsistent ? At all events no place at all is
left for memory, the one principal foundation not
only of philosophy but of all the conduct of Hfe and
all the sciences. For how can there possibly be a
memory of what is false ? or what can anyone re-
member that he does not grasp and hold in his mind ?
But what science can there be that is not made up of
not one nor two but many mental percepts ? And if
you take away science, how will you distinguish be-
tween the craftsman^ and the ignoramus ? for we shall
not pronounce one man to be a craftsman, and the
other not, just casually, but when we see the one
retain what he has perceived and grasped, and the
other not. And as one class of sciences is of such a
nature as only to envisage facts mentally, and another
such as to do or to make something, how can the
geometrician envisage things that are either non-
existent or indistinguishable from flctitious things, or
the player on the harp round off his rhythms and
complete his verses ? and the same result will also
occur in the other crafts of the same class which are
solely exercised in making and doing, for what can
be effected by a craft unless its intending practitioner
has accumulated many percepts ?
28 VIII. " The greatest proof however of our capacity True
to perceive and grasp many things is afforded by the is^[i^dyspens.
study of Ethics. Our percepts alone we actually «^bie for
pronounce to form the basis of knowledge (which in conduct and
our view is not only a grasp of facts but a grasp that j^Q^o^le^jgQ^
I is also permanent and unchangeable), and Uke^Wse
based on knowlcdge of its t.heory. At § l-t3 the craftsmen
instanced are a painter and two sculptors.
407
CICERO
artem vivendi, quae ipsa ex sese habeat constantiam.
Ea autem constantia si nihil habeat percepti et
cogniti, quaero unde nata sit aut quo modo. Quaero
etiam, ille vir bonus qui statuit omnem cruciatum
perferre, intolerabili dolore lacerari potius quam aut
officium prodat aut fidem, cur has sibi tam graves
leges imposuerit cum quam ob rem ita oporteret nihil
haberet comprehensi, percepti, cogniti, constituti.
Nullo igitur modo fieri potest ut quisquam tanti
aestimet aequitatem et fidem ut eius conservandae
causa nullum supphcium recuset, nisi iis rebus ad-
24 sensus sit quae falsae esse non possint. Ipsa vero
sapientia si se ignorabit sapientia sit necne, quo
modo primum obtinebit nomen sapientiae ? deinde
quo modo suscipere aliquam rem aut agere fidenter
audebit cum certi nihil erit quod sequatur ? cum vero
dubitabit quid sit extremum et ultimum bonorum
ignorans quo omnia referantur, qui poterit esse
sapientia ? Atque etiam illud perspicuum est, con-
stitui necesse esse initium quod sapientia cum quid
agere incipiat sequatur, idque initium esse naturae
accommodatum, Nam ahter adpetitio (eam enim
volumus esse o/)pjv), qua ad agendum impellimur et
id adpetimus quod est visum, moveri non potest ;
25 illud autem quod movet prius oportet videri, eique
credi, quod fieri non potest si id quod visum erit
498
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus). viii.
of wisdom, the science of livinsr, which is its own
source of consistency. But if this consistency had
nothing that it grasped and knew, whence, I ask, or
how would it be engendered ? consider also the ideal
good man, who has resolved to endure all torments
and to be mangled by intolerable pain rather than
betray either his duty or his promise — why, I ask,
has he saddled himself with such burdensome rules
as this when he had no grasp or perception or know-
ledge or certainty of any fact that furnished a reason
why it was his duty to do so ? It is therefore ab-
solutely impossible that anybody should set so high
a value upon equity and good faith as to refuse no
torture for the sake of preserving it, unless he has
given his assent to things that cannot possibly be
24 false. As for wisdom herself, if she does not know
whether she is wisdom or not, how^ in the first place
will she make good her claim to the name of wisdom ?
next, how will she venture with confidence to plan or
execute any undertaking when there will be nothing
certain for her to act upon ? indeed, when she will
be hesitating in ignorance of what the final and
ultimate good to which all things are to be referred
really is, how can she possibly be wisdom ? This other
point moreover is manifest : there must be a first
principle established for M-isdom to follow when she
embarks on any action, and this first principle must
be consistent with nature ; fgr otherwise appetition
(our chosen equivalent for the term horme), by which
we are impelled to action and seek to get an object
25 presented to our vision, cannot be set in motion ; but
the thing that sets it in motion must first of all be
seen, and must be beheved in, which cannot take
place if an object seen will be indistinguishable from
499
CICERO
discerni non poterit a falso ; quo modo autem moveri
animus ad adpetendum potest si id quod videtur non
percipitur accommodatumne naturae sit an alienum ?
Itemque si quid officii sui sit non occurrit animo, nihil
umquam omnino aget, ad nullam rem umquam
impelletur, numquam movebitur ; quodsi aliquid
aliquando acturus est, necesse est id ei verum quod
26 occurrit \ideri. Quid quod, si ista vera sunt, ratio
omnis tollitur quasi quaedam lux lumenque vitae ?
tamenne in ista pravitate perstabitis ? Nam quae-
rendi initium ratio attulit, quae^ perfecit virtutem
cum esset ipsa ratio confirmata quaerendo ; quaestio
autem est adpetitio cognitionis, quaestionisque finis
inventio ; at nemo invenit falsa, nec ea quae incerta
permanent inventa esse possunt, sed cum ea quae
quasi involuta fuerunt aperta sunt, tum inventa
dicuntur — sic et initium quaerendi et exitus per-
cipiundi et comprendendi tenetur. Argumenti con-
clusio, quae est Graece O7ro8eif ts, ita definitur : * ratio
quae ex rebus perceptis ad id quod non percipie-
batur adducit.'
27 IX. " Quodsi omnia visa eius modi essent qualia
isti dicunt, ut ea vel falsa esse possent neque ea
posset ulla notio discernere, quo modo quemquam
aut conclusisse aliquid aut invenisse diceremus, aut
quae esset conclusi argumenti fides ? Ipsa autem
philosophia, quae rationibus progredi debet, quem
^ quod ( = quaerendum, quaestio) ? ed.
" Cicero seems to be translating some such phrase as </>Is
Kai (peyyo$ tov filov.
^ Tlie sense seems to require ' research which ' : for virtns,
or its Stoic equivalcnt sapientia, as ratio perfecta cf. i. 20,
ii. 30 fin.
" Involuta aperire is a translation of iKKa^KvwTeiv^ denoting
500
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), viii.— ix.
a false one ; but how can the mind be moved to
appetition if it does not perceive whether the object
seen is cousistent with nature or foreign to it } And
moreover if it has not struck the mind what its
function is, it will never do anything at all, never be
driven towards any object, never make a movement ;
whereas if it is at some time to do something, what
26 strikes it must seem to it to be true. What about
the total abohtion of reason, ' Hfe's dayspring and
source of light,' '^ that must take place if your
doctrines are true ? will your school continue stead-
fast in such perversity all the same ? For it is reason
that initiated research, reason ^ which has perfected
virtue, since reason herself is strengthened by pur-
suing research ; but research is the appetition for
knowledge, and the aim of research is discovery ;
yet nobody discovers what is false, and things that
remain continually uncertain cannot be discovered :
discovery means the ' opening up of things pre-
viously veiled ' '^ — this is how the mind holds both
the commencement of research and the final act
of perceiving and grasping. Therefore this is the
definition of logical proof, in Greek apodeixis : ' a
process of reasoning that leads from things perceived
to something not previously perceived.'
27 IX. " In fact if all sense-presentations were of such and for
a kind as your school say they are, so that they could whiih°^ ^'
possibly be false without any mental process being Carneades
able to distinguish them, how could we say that any- unier-
body had proved or discovered anything, or what "^'^^*^-
trust could we put in logical proof ? Philosophy her-
self must advance by argument — how will she find a
a process of argument ; the conclusion is seen to be contalncd
in the premisses.
501
CICERO
habebit exitum ? Sapientiae vero quid futurum est ?
quae neque de se ipsa dubitare debet neque de suis
decretis quae philosophi vocant S6yiJ.aTa, quorum
nullum sine scelere prodi poterit ; cum enim decretum
proditur, lex veri rectique proditur, quo e vitio et
amicitiarum proditiones et rerum publicarum nasci
solent. Non potest igitur dubitari quin decretum
nullum falsum possit esse sapientis, neque satis sit
non esse falsum sed etiam stabile, fixum, ratum esse
debeat, quod movere nulla ratio queat ; talia autem
neque esse neque videri possunt eorum ratione qui
illa visa e quibus omnia decreta sunt nata negant
28 quicquam a falsis interesse. Ex hoc illud est natum
quod postulabat Hortensius, ut id ipsum saltem
perceptum a sapiente diceretis, nihil posse percipi.
Sed Antipatro hoc idem postulanti, cum diceret ei
qui adfirmaret nihil posse percipi unum tamen illud
dicere percipi posse consentaneum esse, ut aha non
possent, Carneades acutius resistebat ; nam tantum
abesse dicebat ut id consentaneum esset, ut maxime
etiam repugnaret : qui enim negaret quicquam esse
quod perciperetur, eum nihil excipere ; ita necesse
esse ne id ipsum quidem, quod exceptum non esset,
29 comprendi et percipi uUo modo posse. Antiochus ad
istum locum pressius vldebatur accedere : quoniam
enim id haberent Academici decretum (sentitis enim
iam hoc me 6dy/xa dicere), nihil posse percipi, non
debere eos in suo decreto sicut in ceteris rebus
• i<r(pa\rj Kal d.fj.eTdTrTUTOv virb \6yov Sextus, A.M. vii. 151.
502
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), ix.
wav out ? And what will happen to Wisdom ? it is
her duty not to doubt herself or her ' decisions,' which
philosophers term dogmaia, any of which it will be
a crime to abandon ; for the surrender of such a
* dccision ' is the betrayal of the moral law, and that sin
is the common source of betrayals of friends and
country. Therefore it cannot be doubted that no
' decision ' of a wise man can be false, and that it is not
sufficient for them not to be false but they must also be
firmly settled and ratified, immovable by any argu-
ment '^ ; but such a character cannot belong or seem
to belong to them on the theory of those who main-
tain that the sense-presentations from which all
decisions spring differ in no way from false presenta-
>8 tions. From this sprang the demand put forward
by Hortensius, that your school should say that the
wise man has perceived at least the mere fact that
nothing can be perceived. But when Antipater used
to make the same demand, and to say that one who
asserted that nothing could be perceived might yet
consistently say that this single fact could be per-
ceived, namely that nothing else could, Carneades
-with greater acumen used to oppose him ; he used
to declare that this was so far from being consistent
that it was actually grossly inconsistent : for the man
who said there was nothing that was perceived made
no exception, and so not even the impossibility of
perception could itself be grasped and perceived in
J9 any way, because it had not been excepted. Anti-
ochus used to seem to come more closely to grips
with this position ; he argued that because the
Academics held it as a ' decision ' (for you reahze by
now that I use that term to translate dogma) that
nothing could be perceived, they were bound not to
503
CICERO
fluctvmre, praesertim ciim in eo siimma consisteret,
hanc enim esse regulam totius philosophiae, con-
stitutionem veri falsi, cogniti incogniti ; quam ratio-
nem quoniam susciperent, docereque vellent quae
visa accipi oporteret, quae repudiari, certe hoc
ipsum ex quo omne veri falsique iudicium esset
percipere eos debuisse ; etenim duo esse hacc
maxima in philosophia, iudicium veri et finem bono-
rum, nec sapientem posse esse qui aut cognoscendi
esse initium ignoret aut extremum expetendi, ut
aut unde proficiscatur aut quo perveniendum sit
nesciat ; haec autem habere dubia nec iis ita con-
fidere ut moveri non possint^ abhorrere a sapientia
plurimum.2 Hoc igitur modo potius erat ab his
postulandum ut hoc unum saltem, percipi nihil posse,
perceptum esse dicerent. Sed de inconstantia totius
illorum sententiae, si ulla sententia cuiusquam esse
potest nihil adprobantis, sit ut' opinor dictum satis.
30 X. " Sequitur disputatio copiosa illa quidem sed
paulo abstrusior — habet enim aUquantum aphysicis, —
ut verear ne maiorem largiar ei qui contra dicturus
est hbertatem et Hcentiam, nam quid eum facturum
putem de abditis rebus et obscuris qui lucem eripere
conetur ? Sed disputari poterat subtihter quanto
^ possit ? ed.
2 <quani/ plurimum ? ed.
3 sit ut : est Ernesti.
" i.e., in Antiochus's Sosus, see § 12. C/, § 38.
* For this reproach against the Sceptics c/. §§ 38, 61, 109.
* C/. i. 19.
504
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), ix.— x.
waver in their own ' decision ' as they did in everything-
else, particuh\rly when it was the keystone of their
system, for this was the measuring-rod that apphed
to the whole of philosophy, the test of truth and false-
hood, of knowledge and ignorance ; and that since
they adopted this method, and desired to teach what
sense-presentations ought to be accepted and what
rejected, they unquestionably ought to have per-
ceived this decision itself, the basis of every criterion
of truth and falsehood ; for (he said) the two greatest
things in philosophy were the criterion of truth and
the end of goods, and no man could be a sage who
was ignorant of the existence of either a beginning of
the process of knowledge or an end of appetition, and
who consequently did not know from Mhat he was
starting or at what he ought to arrive ; but to be in
doubt as to these matters and not to feel imraovably
sure of them was to be very widely remote from wisdom.
On these hnes therefore they ought to have been
required rather to say that this one thing at least
was perceived — the impossil^ility of perceiving any-
thing. But about the inconsistency of the whole of
their theory, if anybody holding no positive view at
all can be said to have any theory, enough, as I think,
may have been said.
30 X. " Next comes " a discussion which though very (3)The
fully developed is a httle more recondite, for it con- ^^^^^^^
tains a certain amount of matter derived from natural psychoiogy:
philosophy ; so that I am afraid that I may be bestow- derived °^'
inff ffreater hberty and even hcence upon the speaker from
who is to oppose me, lor wnat can 1 suppose tnat i. the basis
one who is endeavouring to rob us of hght ^* will do of^tue.
about matters that are hidden in darkness ? '^ Still, it
would have been possible to discuss in minute detail
505
CICERO
quasi artificio natura fabricata esset primum animal
omne, deinde hominem maxime, quae vis esset in
sensibus, quem ad modum primo visa nos pellerent,
deinde adpetitio ab his pulsa sequeretur, tum^ sensus
ad res percipiendas intenderemus. Mens enim ipsa,
quae sensuum fons est atque etiam ipsa^ sensus est,
naturalem vim habet quam intendit ad ea quibus
movetur. Itaque alia visa sic arripit ut iis statira
utatur, alia quasi recondit, e quibus memoria oritur,
cetera autem similitudinibus construit, ex quibus
efficiuntur notitiae rerum, quas Graeci tum hvocas,
tum ~poXrj\p€Ls vocant. Eo cum accessit ratio argu-
mentique conclusio rerumque innumerabilium mul-
titudo, tum et perceptio eorum omnium apparet et
eadem ratio perfecta his gradibus ad sapientiam per-
31 venit. Ad rerum igitur scientiam vitaeque constan-
tiam aptissima cum sit mens hominis, amplectitur
maxime cognitionem et istam KaTdkrjxfcv, quam ut
dixi verbum e verbo exprimentes comprensionem
dicemus, cum ipsam per se amat (nihil enim est ei
veritatis luce dulcius) , tum etiam propter usum. Quo-
circa et sensibus utitur et artes efficit quasi sensus
alteros et usque eo philosophiam ipsam corroborat
ut virtutem efficiat, ex qua re una vita omnis apta
sit.' Ergo ii qui negant quicquam posse comprendi
^ tum ed. : tum ut codd.
2 ipse Ernesti.
' est Ilahn.
■ Adpetitio is Cicero's version of o/j/xt;, see § 24 n.
506
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), x.
theamount of craflsmanshipthat natm-e has employed
in the construction first of e very animal, then most of all
in man, — the power possessed by the senses, the way
in which we are first struck by the sense-presenta-
tions, next follows appetition <* imparted by their im-
pact, and then we direct the senses to perceive the
objects. For the mind itself, which is the source of
the sensations and even is itself sensation, has a
natural force which it directs to the things by which
it is moved. Accordingly some sense-presentations
it seizes on so as to make use of them at once, others
it as it were stores away, these being the source
of memory, while all the rest it unites into systems
by their mutual resemblances, and from these are
formedthe concepts of objects which the Greeks term
sometimes ennoiai and sometimes prolepseis. When
thereto there has been added reason and logical proof
and an innumerable multitude of facts, then comes
the clear perception of all these things, and also this
same reason having been by these stages made com-
31 plete finally attains to wisdom. Since therefore the
mind of man is supremely well adapted for the know-
ledge of things and for consistency of Hfe, it embraces
information very readily, and your caialepsis, which
as I said we will express by a hteral translation as
* grasp,' is loved by the mind both for itself (for
nothing is dearer to the mind than the hght of truth)
and also for the sake of its utihty. Hence the mind
employs the senses, and also creates the sciences as a
second set of senses, and strengthens the structure of
philosophy itself to the point where it may produce
virtue, the sole source of the ordering of the whole of
life. Therefore those who assert that nothing can be
grasped deprive us of these things that are the very
507
CICERO
haec ipsa eripiunt vel instrumenta vel omamenta
vitae, vel potius etiam totam \dtam evertunt funditus
ipsumque animal orbant animo. ut difficile sit de
temeritate eorum perinde ut causa postulat dicere.
32 " Nec vero satis constituere possum quod sit eorum
consilium aut quid velint. Interdum enim cum ad-
liibemus ad eos orationem eius modi. si ea quae dis-
putentur vera sint, tum omnia fore incerta, respon-
dent : ' Quid ergo istud ad nos ? num nostra culpa
est ? naturam accusa, quae in profundo veritatem,
ut ait Democritus, penitus abstruserit.' Alii autem
elegantius, qui etiam queruntur quod eos insimule-
raus omnia incerta dicere, quantumque intersit inter
incertum et id quod percipi non possit docere conan-
tur eaque distinguere. Cum his igitur agamus qui
haec distinguunt, illos qui omnia sic incerta dicunt ut
stellarum numerus par an impar sit quasi desperatos
aliquos rehnquamus. \"olunt enim (et hoc quidem
vel maxime vos animadvertebam moveri) probabile
aliquid esse et quasi veri simile, eaque se uti regula
et in agenda vita et in quaerendo ac disserendo.
33 XI. " Quae ista regula est veri et falsi, si no-
tionem veri et falsi, propterea quod ea non possunt
internosci, nullam habemus ? Nam si habemus,
interesse oportet ut inter rectum et pravum sic inter
verum et falsum : si nihil interest, nulla regula est,
nec potest is cui est visio veri falsique communis ullum
* The favourite charge of the Sceptics against the dog-
matic schools.
* C/. i. 44 n.
* Doubtless a reference to the exposition of Catulus at the
beginning of the lost Book I. of the first edition.
** Quasi marks veri simile as an explanation of prohabih
used to translate indavov.
508
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), x.— xi.
tools or equipment of life, or rather actually over-
throw the whole of hfe from its foundations and
deprive the animate creature itself of the mind that
animates it, so that it is difficult to speak of their
rashness ^ entirely as the case requires.
}2 " Nor indeed can I fully decide what their plan is Adistinc-
or what they mean. For sometimes when we address a d^f^rence.
them in this sort of language, ' If your contentions
are true, then everything will be uncertain,' they
reply, ' Well, what has that to do with us ? surely it
is not our fault ; blame nature for having hidden
truth quite away, in an abyss, as Democritus says.' ^
But others make a more elaborate answer, and
actually complain because we charge them with say-
ing that everything is uncertain, and they try to
explain the difference between what is uncertain and
what cannot be grasped, and to distinguish between
them. Let us therefore deal with those who make
this distinction, and leave on one side as a hopeless
sort of persons the others who say that all things are
as uncertain as whether the number of the stars is
odd or even. For they hold (and this in fact, I
noticed," excites your school extremely) that some-
thing is * probable,' or as it were ^ resembhng the
truth, and that this provides them with a canon of
judgement both in the conduct of hfe and in philo-
sophical investigation and discussion.
J3 XI. " \Vhat is this canon of truth and falsehood, ifthe tnie
if we have no notion of truth and falsehood, for the t^nguisiiable
reason that they are indistinguishable ? For if we from the
have a notion of them, there must be a difFerence dence' is
between true and false, just as there is between right Jestroyed.
and ^vrong ; if there is none, there is no canon, and
the man who has a presentation of the true and the
s 509
CICERO
habere iudicium aut ullam omnino veritatis notam.
Nam cum dicunt hoc se unum tollere ut quicquam
possit ita^ videri ut non eodem modo falsum etiam
possit^ videri, cetera autem concedere, faciunt
pueriliter. Quo enim omnia iudicantur sublato re-
liqua se negant tollere : ut si quis quem oculis priva-
verit, dicat ea quae cerni possent se ei non ademisse.
Ut enim illa oculis modo agnoscuntur, sic reliqua visis,
sed propria veri, non communi veri et falsi nota.
Quam ob rem sive tu probabilem^ visionem sive pro-
babilem et quae non impediatur, ut Carneades vole-
bat, sive aliud quid proferes quod sequare, ad visum
34 illud de quo agimus tibi erit revertendum. In eo
autem, si* erit communitas cum falso, nullum erit
iudicium, quia proprium^ communi signo notari non
potest ; sin autem commune nihil erit, habeo quod
volo, id enim quaero quod ita mihi videatur verum ut
non possit item falsum videri. Simih in errore ver-
santur cum convicio veritatis coacti perspicua a per-
ceptis volunt distinguere, et conantur ostendere esse
^ ita <verum> Baiter.
* possit Lamhinus : possit ita codd,
' Faber : improbabilem codd.
* si <ei> ? Reid.
^ proprium Halm : proprium in codd.
* KOivr] (pauraaia rov re a\r}dod$ /cat \pev5ovs, Sextus.
^ Perhaps we should emend ' any true thing,' c/. § 34.
The clause refers to the possibiHty that an hallucination, a
visual image not corresponding to a real obiect, may exactly
resemble a visual image presented by a real object.
■^ (pavracria iridavrj Kal dTrepicnra(rros, a sensation which (1) at
first sight, without further inquiry, seems true, and also
(2) when examined in relation to all the other sensations
510
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xi.
falsethat is commontoboth" cannothave anycriterion
or any mark of truth at all. vFor when they say
that they only remove the possibihty of anything ^
presenting an appearance of such a sort that a fiilse
thing could not present the same appearance, but
that they allow everything else, they act childishly.
Having aboHshed the means by which all things are
judged, they say they do not abolish the remaining
sources of knowledge ; just as if anybody were to say
that when he has deprived a man of his eyes he has not
taken away from that man the possibleobjectsof sight.
For just as the objects of sight are recognized only by
means of the eyes, so everything else is recognized by
means of sense-presentations ; but they are recognized
by a mark that belongs specially to w^hat is true, and
is not common to the true and the false. Therefore if
youbringforward' probablepresentation,'or' probable
and unhampered presentation,' ^ as Carneades held, or
something else, as a guide for you to follow, you vnW
have to come back to the sense-presentation that we
34 are deahng with. But if this has community with a
false presentation, it will contain no standard of judge-
ment, because a special property cannot be indicated
by a common mark ; while if on the contrary there is
nothing in common between them, I have got what I
want, for I am looking for a thing that may appear
to me so true that it could not appear to me in the
same way if it were false. They are involved in the
same mistake when under stress of truth's upbraiding
they desire to distinguish between things perceived
and things perspicuous, and try to prove that there is
such a thing as something perspicuous which although
received at the same time (which might turn one's attention
away from it, irepicnrdv) is found to be consistent with them.
511
CICERO
aliquid perspicui, verum illud quidem impressum in
animo atque mente, neque tamen id percipi atque
comprendi posse. Quo enim modo perspicue dixeris
album esse aliquid cum possit accidere ut id quod
nigrum sit album esse videatur, aut quo modo ista
aut perspicua dicemus aut impressa subtiliter cum
sit incertum vere inaniterne moveatur ? Ita neque
color neque corpus nec veritas nec argumentum nec
35 sensus neque perspicuum ullum relinquitur. Ex hoc
illud iis usu venire solet ut quicquid dixerint a quibus-
dam interrogentur : * Ergo istuc quidem percipis ? *
Sed qui ita interrogant, ab iis irridentur ; non enim
urguent ut coarguant neminem ulla de re posse con-
tendere nec adseverare sine aliqua eius rei quam sibi
quisque placere dicit certa et propria nota. Quod
est igitur istuc vestrum probabile ? Nam si quod
cuique occurrit et primo quasi aspectu probabile
36 videtur id confirmatur, quid eo levius ? Sin ex cir-
cumspectione aliqua et accurata consideratione quod
visum sit id se dicent sequi, tamen exitum non habe-
bunt, primum quia iis visis inter quae nihil interest
aequahter omnibus abrogatur fides ; deinde, cum
dicant posse accidere sapienti ut cum omnia fecerit
diligentissimeque circumspexerit exsistat aliquid
quod et veri simile videatur et absit longissime
a vero, ne si^ magnam partem quidem, ut solent
* ne si Mdv. : si codd.
.512
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xi.
a true imprint on the mind and intellect is neverthe-
less incapable of being perceived and grasped. For
how can you maintain that something is perspicuously
white if it can possibly occur that a thing that is
black may appear white, or how shall we pronounce
the things in question either perspicuous or accurately
imprinted if it is uncertain whether the mental
experience is true or unfounded ? In this way
neither colour nor sohdity nor truth nor argument nor
35 '^ensationnoranythingperspicuousisleft. Thisiswhy 'Prob-
it is their usual experience that, whatever they say, fs^uJgiess
some people ask them * Then anyway you do per- guesa-work.
ceive that, do you ? ' But they laugh at those who
put this question ; for their effort is not aimed at
proving that it cannot ever happen that a man may
make a positive assertion about a thing without there
being some definite and peculiar mark attached to
the thing that he in particular professes to accept.
What then is the probability that your school talk
about ? For if what a particular person happens to
encounter, and almost at first glance thinks probable,
is accepted as certain, what could be more frivolous
36 tlian that ? While if they assert that they foUow a
sense-presentation after some circumspection and
careful consideration, nevertheless they will not find
a way out, first because presentations that have no
difference between them are all of them equally
refused credence ; secondly, when they say that it
can happen to the wise man that after he has taken
every precaution and explored the position most
carefully something may yet arise that while appear-
ing to resemble truth is really very far remote from
truth, they will be unable to trust tliemselves, evcn
if they advance at all events a large part of the way,
513
CICERO
dicere, ad verum ipsum aut quam proxime accedant,
confidere sibi poterunt. Ut enim confidant, notum
iis esse debebit insigne veri, quo obscurato^ et op-
presso quod tandem verum sibi videbuntur attingere ?
Quid autem tam absurde dici potest quam cum ita
loquuntur, * Est hoc quidem illius rei signum aut
argumentum, et ea re id sequor, sed fieri potest ut id
quod significatur aut falsum sit aut nihil sit omnino ' ?
Sed de perceptione hactenus ; si quis enim ea quae
dicta sunt labefactare volet, facile etiam absentibus
nobis veritas se ipsa defendet.
37 XII. " His satis cognitis quae iam expUcata sunt,
nunc de adsensione atque adprobatione, quam Graeci
a-vyKaraO^cTiv vocant, pauca dicemus — non quo non
latus locus sit, sed paulo ante iacta sunt fundamenta.
Nam cum vim quae esset in sensibus explicabamus,
simul illud aperiebatur, comprendi multa et percipi
sensibus, quod fieri sine adsensione non potest.
Deinde cum inter inanimum et animal hoc maxime
intersit quod animal agit aliquid (nihil enim agens
ne cogitari quidem potest quale sit), aut ei sensus
adimendus est aut ea quae est in nostra potestate sita
38 reddenda adsensio. At vero animus quodam modo
eripitur iis quos neque sentire neque adsentiri volunt ;
ut enim necesse est lancem in hbra^ ponderibus im-
^ Lambinus : obscuro codd.
* libram codd. nonnulli.
<* i.e.f difFerent from what it seems.
^ i.e., the mental acceptnnce of a sensation as tnily rcpre-
senting the object ; c/. i. 40. * § 20.
514)
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xi.— xii.
as they are in the habit of saying, towards the actual
truth, or indeed come as near to it as possible. For to
enable them to trust their judgement, it wiW be neccs-
sary for the characteristic mark of truth to be known
to them, and if this be obscured and suppressed, what
truth pray will they suppose that they attain to ?
What language moreover could be more absurd than
their formula, ' It is true that this is a token or a
proof of yonder object, and therefore I follow it, but
it is possible that the object that it indicates may be
either false ° or entirely non-existent ' ? But enough
on the subject of perception ; for if anybody desires
to upset the doctrines stated, truth will easily conduct
her own defence, even if we dechne the brief.
37 XII. " Now that we are sufficiently acquainted (4) Cer-
with the matters already unfolded, let us say a few J^ee"d,rd^for
words on the subject of * assent ' ^ or approval action :
(termed in Greek syncatathesis) — not that it is not a pSomena
wide topic, but the foundations have been laid a Httle underiies
time back. For while we were explaining ^ the power conduct.
residing in the senses, it was at the same time dis-
closed that many things are grasped and perceived
by the senses, which cannot happen without the act
of assent. Again, as the greatest difference between
an inanimate and an animate object is that an ani-
mate object performs some action (for an entirely
inactive animal is an utterly inconceivable thing),
either it must be denied the possession of sensation
or it must be assigned a faculty of assenting as a
38 voluntary act. But on the other hand persons who
refuse to exercise eitlier sensation or assent are in a
manner robbed of the mind itself ; for as the scale of
a balance must necessarily sink when weights are
put in it, so the mind must necessarily yield to clear
515
CICERO
positis deprimi, sic animum perspicuis cedere : nam
quo modo non potest animal ullum non adpetere id
quod aecommodatum ad naturam adpareat (Graeci id
oLKclov appellant), sic non potest obiectam rem per-
spicuam non adprobare. Quamquam, si illa de quibus
disputatum est vera sunt, nihil attinet de adsensione
omnino loqui ; qui enim quid percipit adsentitur
statim. Sed haec etiam sequuntur, nec memoriam
sine adsensione posse constare nec notitias rerum nec
artes ; idque quod maximum est, ut sit aliquid in
nostra potestate, in eo qui rei nulli adsentietur non
erit : ubi igitur virtus, si nihil situm est in ipsis
39 nobis ? Maxime autem absurdum vitia in ipsorum
esse potestate neque peccare quemquam nisi adsen-
sione, hoc idem in virtute non esse, cuius omnis con-
stantia et firmitas ex iis rebus constat quibus adsensa
est et quas adprobavit. Omninoque ante videri
aliquid quam agamus necesse est eique quod visum
sit adsentiatur.i Quare qui aut visum aut adsensum
tolUt, is omnem actionem tollit e vita.
40 XIII. " Nunc ea \ddeamus quae contra ab his
disputari solent. Sed prius potestis totius eorum
rationis quasi fundamenta cognoscere. Componunt
igitur primum artem quandam de iis quae visa
dicimus, eorumque et vim et genera definiunt, in his
quale sit id quod percipi et comprendi possit, totidem
verbis quot Stoici. Deinde illa exponunt duo quae
^ adsentiamur Davies : adsentiri Lamhinns.
" See § 30 n. » See i. 32 n.
* Quasi nniarks a tentative rendering of defi^Xioi as
does quandam just below one of Tix^-q (pavraaLQv ; and
apparently also quasi contineant renders some other Greek
teclmical terni, pr rhaps awex^i-v ; cf. §§ 20, 107.
^ Id , , , possit = T6 KaTaXrjTTTov.
516
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xii. — xiii.
presentations : since just as no animal can refrain
from seeking to get a thing that is presented to its
view as suited to its nature (the Greeks term it
oikeion)j so the mind cannot refrain from giving
approval to a clear object when presented to it.
Nevertheless, assuming the truth of the positions
discussed, all talk whatever about assent is beside
the mark ; for he who perceives anything assents
immediately. But there also follow " the points that
without assent memory, and mental concepts of
objects, and sciences, are impossible ; and most im-
portant of all, granting that some freedom of the will
exists, none will exist in one who assents to nothing ;
where then is virtue, if nothing rests with ourselves?
39 And what is most absurd is that men's vices shoukl be
in their own power and that nobody should sin except
with assent, but that the same should not be true
in the case of virtue, whose sole consistency and
strength is constituted by the things to which it has
given its assent and so to say approval.^ And speak-
ing generally, before we act it is essential for us to
experience some presentation, and for our assent
to be given to the presentation ; therefore one who
abohshes either presentation or assent abohshes all
action out of Hfe.
40 XIII. Now let us examine the arguments usually (5) The New
advanced by this school on the other side. But before ^'eoly"^'''
that, this is an opportunity for you to learn the expounded :
' foundations ' ^ of their whole system. Well, they uons^areta.
beffin by constructing a ' science of presentations ' distinguish-
o ir able from
(as we render the term), and define their nature and faise ones,
classes, and in particular the nature of that which can f^ percep-
.11 1 j 111 ^'*^" cannot
be perceived and grasped,*^ at as great a length as do le trusted.
the Stoics. Then they set out tlie two propositions
517
CICERO
quasi contineant omnem hanc quaestionem : quae
ita \ideantur ut etiam alia eodem modo \dderi possint
nec in iis quicquam intersit, non posse eorum alia
percipi, alia non percipi ; nihil interesse autem, non
modo si omni ex parte eiusdem modi sint, sed etiam
si discerni non possint. Quibus positis unius argu-
menti conclusione tota ab iis causa comprenditur ;
composita autem ea conclusio sic est : ' Eorum quae
videntur aUa vera sunt, aha falsa ; et quod falsum
est id percipi non potest. Quod autem verum visum
est id omne tale est ut eiusdem modi falsum etiam
possit videri ; et quae \"isa sunt^ eius modi ut in iis
nihil intersit, non potest^ accidere ut eorum alia
percipi possint, aha non possint. Nullum igitur est
41 visum quod percipi possit.' Quae autem sumunt ut
concludant id quod volunt, ex his duo sibi putant
concedi, neque enim quisquam repugnat : ea sunt
haec, quae visa falsa sint, ea percipi non posse, et
alterum, inter quae visa nihil intersit, ex iis non
posse aha talia esse ut percipi possint, aha ut non
possint. ReUqua vero multa et varia oratione de-
fendunt, quae sunt item duo, unum, quae videantur,
eorum aUa vera esse, aUa falsa, alterum, omne visum
^ edd. : sint codd. ^ edd. : posse codd.
" Two objects entirely aUke, A' and A", present the same
appearance a ; but so also do two objects only superficiaUy
alike — thoii^h not really aUke entirely, they are indistinguish-
able by the senses : X and Y both present the same appear-
ance x. We may have the presentation x and think it comes
from X when it reaUy comes from Y, X not being; there : in
this case we do not perceive X. Therefore when we have the
presentation x and think it comes from X and X is there,
we cannot be said to perceive X. Therefore perception ia
impossible.
518
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xiii.
that ' hold together ' the whole of this investigation,
namely, (1) when certain objects present an appear-
ance of such a kind that other objects also could
present the same appearance without there being
any difference between these presentations, it is im-
possible that the one set of objects should be capable
of being perceived and the other set not capable ;
but (2), not only in a case in which they are ahke in
every particular is there no difference between them,
but also in a case in which they cannot be distin-
guished apart. Having set out these propositions,
they include the whole issue M-ithin a single syllo-
gistic argument ; this argument is constructed as
follows : ' Some presentations are true, others false ;
and what is false cannot be perceived. But a true
presentation is invariably of such a sort that a false
presentation also could be of exactly the same sort ;
and among presentations of such a sort that there
is no difference between them, it cannot occur that
some are capable of being perceived and others are
not. Therefore there is no presentation that is
41 capable of being perceived.'" Now of the proposi-
tions that they take as premisses from which to infer
the desired conclusion, two they assume to be granted,
and indeed nobody disputes them : these are, that
false presentations cannot be perceived, and the
second, that of presentations that have no difference
between them it is impossible that some should be
such as to be capable of being perceived and others
such as to be incapable. But the remaining pre-
misses they defend with a long and varied discourse,
these also being two, one, that of the objects of pre-
sentations some are true, others false, and the other,
that every presentation arising from a true object is
519
CICERO
quod sit a vero tale esse quale etiam a falso possit
42 esse. Haec duo proposita non praetervolant, sed ita
dilatant ut non mediocrem curam adhibeant et dili-
gentiam ; dividunt enim in partes, et eas quidem
magnas, primum in sensus, deinde in ea quae ducun-
tur a sensibus et ab omni consuetudine, quam ob-
scurari volunt, tum perveniunt ad eam partem ut ne
ratione quidem et coniectura ulla res percipi possit.
Haec autem universa concidunt etiam minutius ;
ut enim de sensibus hesterno sermone vidistis, item
faciunt de reliquis, in singulisque rebus, quas in
minima dispertiunt, volunt efficere iis omnibus quae
visa sint veris adiuncta esse falsa quae a veris nihil
differant ; ea cum talia sint, non posse comprendi.
43 XIV. " Hanc ego subtihtatem philosophia quidem
dignissimam iudico sed ab eorum causa qui ita
disserunt remotissimam. Definitiones enim et par-
titiones, et horum luminibus utens oratio, tum
simihtudines dissimilitudinesque et earum tenuis et
acuta distinctio fidentium est hominum illa vera et
firma et certa esse quae tutentur, non eorum qui
clament nihilo magis vera iUa esse quam falsa. Quid
enim agant si, cum aUquid definierint, roget eos
quispiam num illa definitio possit in aham rem trans-
ferri quamlubet ? Si posse dixerint, quid dicere
Imbeant cur illa vera definitio sit ? si negaverint,
fatendum sit, quoniam vel illa vera definitio transferri
° Luminaf a technical term of rhetoric, used to translate
crx^AtciTa.
520
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xiii.— xiv.
of such a nature that it could also arise from a false
t2 object. These two propositions they do not skim
over, but develop with a considerable apphcation of
care and industry ; they divide them into sections,
and those of wide extent : first, sensations ; next,
inferences from sensations and from general ex-
perience, which they deem to lack clarity ; then
they come to the section proving the impossibiUty of
perceiving anything even by means of reasoning and
inference. These general propositions they cut up
into still smaller divisions, employing the same
method with all the other topics as you saw in
yesterday's discourse that they do with sensation,
and aiming at proving in the case of each subject,
minutely subdivided, that all true presentations
are coupled with false ones in no way differing from
the true, and that this being the nature of sense-
presentations, to comprehend them is impossible.
13 XIV. " In my own judgement this minuteness al- (6)Pre-
though no doubt highly worthy of philosophy is at crlV/S of
the same time absolutely remote from the position the New
of the authors of this Hne of argument. For definitions it m-^"^^ '
and partitions, and language employing figures ** ^f J^}.'^^?^^.^^
this class, as also comparisons and distinctions and and
their subtle and minute classification, are the weapons r^*s<^"'"S.
of persons who are confident that the doctrines they
are defending are true and established and certain, not
of those who loudly proclaim that they are no more
true than false. For what would they do if, when they
have defined something, somebody were to ask them
whether that particular defimtion can be carried over
to any other thing you hke ? If they say it can,
what proof could they put forward that the definition
is true ? if they say it cannot, they woukl have to
521
CICERO
non possit in falsum, quod ea definitione explicetui
id percipi posse, quod minime illi volunt. Eadem
44 dici poterunt in omnibus partibus. Si enim dicent ea
de quibus disserent se dilucide perspicere, nec ulla
communione visorum impediri, comprendere ea se
posse fatebuntur. Sin autem negabunt vera visa a
falsis posse distingui, qui poterunt longius progredi ?
occurretur enim sicut occursum est ; nam concludi
argumentum non potest nisi iis quae ad concludendum
sumpta erunt ita probatis ut falsa eiusdem modi
nulla possint esse : ergo si rebus comprensis et
perceptis nisa et progressa ratio hoc efRciet, nihil
posse comprendi, quid potest reperiri quod ipsum
sibi repugnet magis ? Cumque ipsa natura accu-
ratae orationis hoc profiteatur, se ahquid patefac-
turam quod non appareat et quo id facihus adsequatur
adhibituram et sensus et ea quae perspicua sint,
quahs est istorum oratio qui omnia non tam esse
quam videri volunt ? Maxime autem convincuntur
cum haec duo pro congruentibus sumunt tam vehe-
menter repugnantia, primum esse quaedam falsa
visa, quod cum volunt declarant quaedam esse vera,
deinde ibidem inter falsa visa et vera nihil interesse :
• i.e.t a thing misconceived (not ' an unreal thing ').
*» Cf. § 34 iniL
522
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xiv.
admit that, since even this true definition cannot be
apphed to a false object,'^ the object explained by the
delinition can be perceived, and this they will not
allow at any price. The same argument it will be
possible to employ at every section of the discussion.
44 For if they say that they can see through the matters
that they are discussing with complete clearness, and
are not hampered by any overlapping ^ of presenta-
tions, they will confess that they can ' comprehend '
them. But if they maintain that true presentations
cannot be distinguished from false ones, how will they
be able to advance any further ? for they will be
met as they were met before ; since vaUd inference is
not possible unless you accept the propositions taken
as premisses as so fully proved that there cannot
possibly be any false propositions that resemble
them : therefore if a process of reasoning that has
carried through its procedure on the basis of things
grasped and perceived arrives at the conclusion
that nothing can be grasped, what more self-
destructive argument could be discovered ? And
when the very nature of accurate discourse professes
the intention of reveaUng something that is not
apparent, and of employing sensations and manifest
presentations to faciUtate the attainment of this
result, what are we to make of the language of these
thinkers who hold that everything does not so much
exist as seem to exist ? But they are most completely
refuted when they assume as mutually consistent
these two propositions that are so violently discrepant,
first, that some presentations are false, a view that
clearly impUes that some are true, and then in the
same breath that there is no difference between false
presentations and true ones : but your first assump-
523
CICERO
at primuin sumpseras tamquam interesset — ita
priori posterius, posteriori superius non iungitur.
46 " Sed progrediamur longius et ita agamus ut nihil
nobis adsentati esse videamur ; quaeque ab his
dicuntur sic persequamur ut nihil in praeteritis
reUnquamus. Primum igitur perspicuitas illa quam
diximus satis magnam habet vim ut ipsa per sese ea
quae sint nobis ita ut sint indicet. Sed tamen ut
maneamus in perspicuis firmius et constantius, maiore
quadam opus est vel arte vel dihgentia ne ab iis
quae clara sint ipsa per sese quasi praestigiis quibus-
dam et captionibus depellamur. Nam qui voluit sub-
venire erroribus Epicurus^ iis qui videntur conturbare
veri cognitionem, dixitque sapientis esse opinionem
a perspicuitate seiungere, nihil profecit, ipsius enim
opinionis errorem nullo modo sustuHt.
46 XV. " Quam ob rem cum duae causae perspicuis
et evidentibus rebus adversentur, auxiha totidem
sunt contra comparanda. Adversatur enim primum
quod parum defigunt animos et intendunt in ea
quae perspicua sunt ut quanta luce ea circumfusa
sint possint agnoscere ; alterum est quod fallacibus
et captiosis interrogationibus circumscripti atque
decepti quidam, cum eas dissolvere non possunt,
desciscunt a veritate. Oportet igitur et ea quae pro
perspicuitate responderi possunt in promptu habere,
^ [Epicurus] Baiier.
" Quasi quihvsdam mark praestigiis as a translation of
<ro(piafMaTa, paraphrased by captionibus.
524,
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xiv.— xv.
tion implied that there is a difference — thiis 3'our
major premiss and your minor are inconsistent with
one another.
45 " But let us advance further and proceed in such From sense-
a manner as not to appear to have been unduly feason'^'^^
partial to our owti \-iews ; and let us go through evoives
the doctrines of these thinkers so thoroughly as to ^°^ ^ ^*"
leave nothing passed over. First then what we have
termed ' perspicuity ' has sufficient force of itself to §17.
indicate to us things that are as they are. But never-
theless, so that we may abide by things that are
perspicuous with more firmness and constancy, we
require some further exercise of method or of atten-
tion to save ourselves from being dislodged by
' trickeries ' ^* and captious arguments from positions
that are clear in themselves. For Epicurus who
desired to come to the relief of the errors that
appear to upset our pow er of knowing the truth, and
who said that the separation of opinion from per-
spicuous truth was the function of the wise man,
carried matters no further, for he entirely failed to
do away with the error connected with mere opinion.
46 XV. " Therefore inasmuch as things perspicuous (7) Logical
and evident are encountered by two obstacles, it is [he^New^'
necessary to array against them the same number Academy :
of assistances. The hrst obstacle is that people do ^ ^ ^^ '^-
not fix and concentrate their minds on the perspicuous
objects enough to be able to recognize in how much
hght they are enveloped ; the second is that certain
persons, being entrapped and taken in by fallacious
and captious arguments, when they are unable to
refute them abandon the truth. It is therefore neces-
sary to have ready the counter-arguments, of which
we have ahready spoken, that can be advanced in
525
CICERO
de quibus iam diximus, et esse armatos ut occurrere
possimus interrogationibus eorum captionesque dis-
47 cutere, quod deinceps facere constitui. Exponam
igitur generatim argumenta eorum, quoniam ipsi
etiam illi solent non confuse loqui. Primum conantur
ostendere multa posse videri esse quae omnino nulla
sint, cum animi inaniter moveantur eodem modo
rebus iis quae nuUae sint ut iis quae sint. Nam cum
dicatis, inquiunt, visa quaedam mitti a deo, velut ea
quae in somnis videantur quaeque oraculis, auspiciis,
extis declarentur (haec enim aiunt probari Stoicis
quos contra disputant), quaerunt quonam modo falsa
visa quae sint ea deus efficere possit probabilia, quae
autem plane proxime ad verum accedant efficere non
possit, aut si ea quoque possit, cur. illa non possit
quae perdifficiliter,^ internoscantur tamen, et si haec,
48 cur non inter quae nihil sit^ omnino. Deinde cum
mens moveatur ipsa per sese, ut et ea declarant quae
cogitatione depingimus et ea quae vel dormientibus
vel furiosis videntur non numquam, veri simile est
sic etiam mentem moveri ut non modo non inter-
noscat vera illa visa sint anne falsa sed ut in iis nihil
intersit omnino : ut si qui tremerent et exalbescerent
vel ipsi per se motu mentis ahquo vel obiecta terribili
* perdifficiliter <internoscantur> ? Reid.
* intersit Muller.
526
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xv.
defence of perspicuity, and to be armed so that we
mav be able to meet their arguments and shalter
their captions ; and this I have decided on as my
47 next step. I will therefore set out their arguments
in classified form, since even they themselves make a
practice of orderly exposition. They first attempt
to show the possibihty that many things may appear
to exist that are absolutely non-existent, since the
mind is deceptively affected by non-existent objects
in the same manner as it is affected by real ones. For,
they say, when your school asserts that some presenta-
tions are sent by the deity — dreams for example, and
the revelations furnished by oracles, auspices and
sacrifices (for they assert that the Stoics against whom
they are arguing accept these manifestations) — how
possibly, they ask, can the deity have the power to
render false presentations probable and not have
the power to render probable those which approxi-
mate absolutely most closely to the truth ? or
else, if he is able to render these also probable,
why cannot he render probable those which are dis-
tinguishable, although only with extreme difficulty,
from false presentations ? and if these, why not
48 those which do not differ from them at all ? Then,
since the mind is capable of entirely self-originated
motion, as is manifest by our faculty of mental im-
agination and by the visions that sometimes appearto
men either when asleep or mad, it is probable that the
mind may also be set in motion in such a manner that
not only it cannot distinguish whether the presenta-
tions in question are true or false but that there really
is no difference at all between them : just as if people
were to shiver and turn pale either of themselves as
a result of some mental emotion or in consequence
527
CICERO
re extrinsecus, nihil ut esset qui distingueretur tremor
ille et pallor neque ut quicquam interesset inter
intestinum et oblatum. Postremo si nulla visa sunt
probabilia quae falsa sint, alia ratio est ; sin autem
sunt, cur non etiam quae non facile internoscantur ?
cur non ut plane nihil intersit ? praesertim cura
ipsi dicatis sapientem in furore sustinere se ab omni
adsensu quia nulla in visis distinctio appareat.
49 XVI. " Ad has omnes visiones inanes Antiochus
quidem et permulta dicebat et erat de hac una re
unius diei disputatio ; mihi autem non idem facien-
dimi puto, sed ipsa capita dicenda. Et primum qui-
dem hoc reprehendendum quod captiosissimo genere
interrogationis utuntur, quod genus minime in philo-
sophia probari solet, cum aUquid minutatim et gra-
datim additur aut demitur. Soritas hoc vocant, quia
acervum efficiunt uno addito grano. Vitiosum sane
et captiosum genus ! Sic enim adscenditis : ' Si tale
visum obiectum est a deo dormienti ut probabile sit,
cur non etiam ut valde veri simile ? cur deinde non
ut difficiUter a vero internoscatur ? deinde ut ne
internoscatur quidem ? postremo ut nihil inter hoc
" Apparently the teclinical term is jestingly used to de-
scribe the arguments just summarized.
*» aojpeirris avXKoyiafjios, the conclusion of one syllogism
forming the major premiss of the next. Each step may
either add a smaU point, as in the example above, or sub-
tract one, as in the practical illustration of the fallacy that
gave it its name {ratio ruentis acerui, Horace) : from a heap
of grain one grain at a time is taken away — at what point
does it cease to be a heap ?
528
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xv.— x\i.
of encountering some terrifying external object, with
nothing to distinguish between the two kinds of
shivering and pallor, and without any diflerence be-
tween the internal state of feeling and the one that
came from without. Lastly, if no false presentations
at all are probable, it is another story ; but if some are,
why are not even those that are diificult to dis-
tinguish ? why not those that are so much hke true
ones that there is absolutely no difference between
them ? especially as you yourselves say that the wise
man when in a state of frenzy restrains himself from
all assent because no distinction between presenta-
tions is visible to him.
49 XVI. " In answer to all these * unfounded sense- These
presentations ' <» Antiochus indeed used to advance a g^poged^
great many arguments, and also he used to devote one the ditfer-
whole day's debate to this single topic ; but I do not between
think that I had better do the same, but state merelv [^^^^ ^""^^,
* T /> • * ^^^^ sensa
the heads of the argument. And as a nrst pomt one tious.
must criticize them for employing an exceedingly
captious kind of argument, of a sort that is usually by
no means approved of in philosophy — the method of
proceeding by minute steps of gradual addition or
withdrawal. They call this class of arguments soritae ^
because by adding a single grain at a time they make
a heap. It is certainly an erroneous and captious
kind of argument ! for you go on mounting up in
this way : ' If a presentation put by the deity before
a man asleep is of such a character that it is probable,
why not also of such a cliaracter that it is extremely
Hke a true one ? then, why not such that it can with
difficulty be distinguished from a true one ? then,
that it cannot even be distingui^^hed ? finally, that
there is no difference between the one and the other ? *
529
CICERO
et illud intersit ? ' Huc si perveneris me tibi primum
quidque concedente, meum vitium fuerit ; sin ipse
50 tua sponte processeris, tuum. Quis enim tibi dederit
aut omnia deum posse aut ita facturum esse si possit ?
quo modo autem sumis ut, si quid cui simile esse
possit, sequatur ut etiam difficiliter internosci possit ?
deinde, ut ne internosci quidem ? postremo, ut
eadem sint ? ut, si lupi canibus similes, eosdem dices
ad extremum. Et quidem honestis similia sunt
quaedam non honesta et bonis non bona et artificiosis
minime artificiosa ; quid dubitamus igitur adfirmare
nihil inter haec interesse ? Ne repugnantia quidem
videmus ? nihil est enim quod de suo genere in aliud
genus transferri possit. At si efficeretur ut inter visa
difFerentium generum nihil interesset, reperirentur
quae et in suo genere essent et in aUeno ; quod fieri
61 qui potest ? Omnium deinde inanium visorum una
depulsio est, sive illa cogitatione informantur, quod
fieri solere concedimus, sive in quiete sive per vinum
sive per insaniam : nam ab omnibus eiusdem modi
visis perspicuitatem, quam mordicus tenere debemus,
abesse dicemus. Quis enim, cum sibi fingit aliquid
et cogitatione depingit, non simul ac se ipse com-
movit atque ad se revocavit sentit quid intersit inter
530
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xvi.
If you reach this conclusion owlng to my yielding to
you each successive step, the fault will have been
mine ; but if you get there of your ov,n accord, it
60 will be yours. For who will have granted you either
that the deity is omnipotent, or that even if he can
do as described he will } and how do you make such
assumptions that, if it is possible for .r to resemble
t/, it will follow that only with difficulty can x and z/
be known apart ? and then, that they cannot even
be known apart ? and finally, that they are identical ?
for example, if wolves are hke dogs, you will end by
saying that they are identicak And it is a fact that
some honourable things are hke dishonourable ones
and some good things hke not good ones and some
artistic things hke inartistic ones ; why do we hesi-
tate therefore to aver that there is no difference
between these ? Have we no eye even for incon-
gruities ? for there is nothing that cannot be carried
over from its own class into anothcr class. But if it
were proved that there is no diaerence between
presentations of different classes, we should find pre-
sentations that belonged both to their own class and
to one foreign to them ; how can this possibly occur ?
61 Consequently there is only one way of routing the
difficulty about unreal presentations, whether de-
picted by the imagination, which we admit frequently
to take place, or in slumber or under the influence of
N^ine or of insanity : we shall declare that all pre-
sentations of this nature are devoid of perspicuity,
to which we are bound to chng tooth and naih For
who when feigning to himself an imaginary picture
of some object, the moment he bestirs himself and
recalls his self-consciousness does not at once per-
cei ve the difference betweenperspicuous presentations
531
CICERO
perspicua et inania ? Eadem ratio est somnioruni.
Num censes Ennium cum in hortis cum Servio Galba
vicino suo ambulavisset dixisse : ' Visus sum mihi
cum Galba ambulare ' ? At cum somniavit, ita
narravit :
visus Homerus adesse poeta.
Idemque in Epicharmo :
Nam videbar somniare med ego esse mortuom.
Itaque simul ut experrecti sumus visa illa contemni-
mus neque ita habemus ut ea quae in foro gessimus.
62 XVII. " At enim dum videntur eadem est in
somnis species eorumque^ quae vigilantes videmus !
Primum interest ; sed id omittamus, illud enim dici-
mus, non eandem esse vim neque integritatem dor-
mientium et vigilantium nec mente nec sensu. Ne
vinulenti quidem quae faciunt eadem adprobatione
faciunt qua sobrii : dubitant, haesitant, revocant se
interdum, iisque quae videntur imbecilHus adsen-
tiuntur cumque edormiverunt illa visa quam levia
fuerint intellegunt. Quod idem contingit insanis, ut
et incipientes furere sentiant et dicant ahquid quod
non sit id videri sibi, et cum relaxentur sentiant atque
illa dicant Alcmaeonis :
^ Hermann : eoriim codd.
« The Italian Greek (239-169 b.c.) who initiated Latin
poetry in Greek metres. He adapted Attic tragedies, e.g.
Alcmaeon, quoted §§ 52, 89, and wrote Roman ones; but his
greatest work was Annales, an epic of Roman history from
which comes the part of a hexameter quoted. Cf. § 88.
* The chief Dorian comic poet, c. 540-450 b.c, hved at
Hiero's court at Syracuse.
' The character in Ennius's tragedy : see § 51 n. and § 89.
532
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xvi. — xvii.
and unreal ones ? The same applies to dreams.
Do yoii fancy that whcn Enniiis ° had been walking
in his grounds with his neighbour Servius Galba he
used to say, ' Mcthought I was walking with Galba' ?
But when he had a dream he told the story in this
way :
Methought the poet Homer stood beside me.
And the same in the case of Epicharmus ^ :
For methought I had a dream that I myself was dead and
gone.
And so as soon as we wake up we make hght of that
kind of \isions, and do not deem them on a par \vith
the actual experiences that we had in the forum.
XVn. " But you will say that at the time when
we are experiencing them the visions we have in
sleep have the same appearance as the visual pre-
sentations that we experience while awake ! To
begin with, there is a difference between them ; but
do not let us dwell on that, for our point is that when
we are asleep we have not the same mental or
sensory power and fulness of function as we have
when awake. Even men acting under the influence
of wine do not act with the same decision as they
do when sober : they are doubtful and hesitating
and sometimes pull themselves up, and they give a
more feeble assent to their sense-presentations and,
when they have slept it ofF, reahze how unsubstantial
those presentations were. The same happens to the
insane : at the beginning of their attack they are
conscious that they are mad, and say that something
is appearing to them that is not real ; and also when
the attack is subsiding they are conscious of it, and
say things hke the words of Alcmaeon '^ :
533
CICERO
Sed mihi ne utiquam cor consentit cum oculorum
aspectu.
63 At enim ipse sapiens sustinet se in furore ne ad-
probet falsa pro veris. Et alias quidem saepe, si
aut in sensibus ipsius^ est aliqua forte gravitas aut
tarditas, aut obscuriora sunt quae videntur, aut a
perspiciendo temporis brevitate excluditur. Quam-
quam totum hoc, sapientem aliquando sustinere
adsensionem, contra vos est ; si enim inter visa nihil
interesset, aut semper sustineret aut numquam.
Sed ex hoc genere toto perspici potest levitas orationis
eorum, qui omnia cupiunt confundere. Quaerimus
gravitatis, constantiae, firmitatis, sapientiae iudicium,
utimur exemplis somniantium, furiosorum, ebrio-
sorum. Illud attendimus in hoc omni genere quam
inconstanter loquamur ? Non enim proferremus vino
aut somno oppressos aut mente captos tam absurde
ut tum diceremus interesse inter vigilantium visa et
sobriorum et sanorum et eorum qui essent aliter ad-
64 fecti, tum nihil interesse. Ne hoc quidem cernunt,
omnia se reddere incerta, quod nolunt (ea dico in-
certa quae aSrjka Graeci) ? si enim res se ita habeant
ut nihil intersit utrum ita cui videantur^ ut insano
an sano, cui possit exploratum esse de sua sanitate ?
^ ipsis ? Reid, - ed. : videatur codd.
524'
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xvii.
But my mind agrees in no way with the vision of my
eyes.
53 But you will say that the \vise man in an attack of
madness restrains himself from accepting false pre-
sentations as true. So indeed he often does on other
occasions, if his own senses happen to contain an
element of heaviness or slo^\Tiess, or if the presenta-
tions are rather obscure, or if he is debarred by lack
of time from a close scrutiny. Although this ad-
mission, that the ^vise man sometimes withholds his
assent, goes wholly against your school ; for if pre-
sentations were indistinguishable, he would either
withhold his assent always or never. But out of all
this what is ' perspicuous ' is the lack of substance in
the case put by these thinkers, who aspire to intro-
duce universal confusion. What we are looking for
is a canon of judgement proper to dignity and con-
sistency, to firmness and \Wsdom, what we find are
instances taken from dreamers, lunatics and drunk-
ards. Do we notice in all this department how in-
consistent that talk is ? If we did, we should not
bring forward people who are tipsy or fast asleep or
out of their minds in such a ridiculous fashion as at
one moment to say that there is a difference between
the presentations of the waking and sober and sane
and of those in other conditions, and at another
>4 moment to say that there is no difference. Do they (S) Finai
not even see that they make everything uncertain — of'the New
a position which they repudiate (I use ' uncertain ' Academy.
to translate the Greek adela) ? for if objects are so
constituted that it makes no difFerence whether they
appear to anybody as they do to a madman or as they
do to a sane person, who can be satisfied of his own
sanity ? to desire to produce this state of afFairs is in
5S5
CICERO
quod velle efficere non mediocris insaniae est. Simili-
tudines vero aut geminorura aut signorum anulis
impressorum pueriliter consectantur. Quis enim
nostrum similitudines negat esse, cum eae plurimis
in rebus appareant ? sed si satis est ad tollendam
cognitionem similia esse multa multorum, cur eo non
estis contenti, praesertim concedentibus nobis, et
cur id potius contenditis quod rerum natura non
patitur, ut non in^ suo quidque genere sit tale quale
est nec sit in duobus aut pluribus nulla re differens
ulla communitas ? Ut si^ sint et ova ovorum et apes
apium simillimae, quid pugnas igitur ? Aut quid tibi
vis in geminis ? conceditur enim similes esse, quo
contentus esse potueras : tu autem vis eosdem plane
55 esse, non similes, quod fieri nullo modo potest. Dein
confugis ad physicos, eos qui maxime in Academia
inridentur, a quibus ne tu quidem iam te abstinebis,
et ais Democritum dicere innumerabiles esse mundos,
et quidem sic quosdam inter sese non solum similes
sed undique perfecte et absolute pares' ut inter eos
nihil prorsus intersit [et eo* quidem innumerabiles],'
itemque homines. Deinde postulas ut, si mundus
ita sit par alteri mundo ut inter eos ne minimum qui-
dem intersit, concedatur tibi ut in hoc quoque nostro
mundo ahquid ahcui sic sit par ut nihil differat, nihil
* non in Ilalm : non codd, ^ si Miiller : sibi codd.
^ pares Christ : ita pares codd.
* eos edd. ^ secl. Halm.
*• Ut non depends on both contenditis and non patitur and
introduces both sit tale quale est and nec sit ulla communitas.
The assertion refuted by nature is that uniqueness and
heterogeneity are not universal {nulla re differen^ rer.ders
dot'i0o/)os, and communitas iTrifxi^ia or dTrapaWa^fa, 'urdis-
tinguishableness,' c/. § 34).
536
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xvii.
itself no inconsiderable mark of insanity. But the
way in wliich they harp on cases of resemblance
between twins or between the seals stamped by
signet-rings is childish. For which of us denies that
resemblances exist, since they are manifest in ever
so many things ? but if the fact that many things are
hke niany other things is enough to do away with
knowledge, why are you not content with that,
especially as we admit it, and why do you prefer to
urge a contention utterly excluded by the nature of
things, denying that everything is what it is in a
class of its own and that two or more objects never
possess a common character ditfering in nothing at
all ° ? For example , granting that eggs are extremely
hke eggs and bees hke bees, wliy therefore do you
do battle ? Or what are you at in this matter of
twins ? for it is granted that two twins are ahke,
and that might have satisfied you ; but you want
them to be not ahke but downright identical, which
5 is absolutely impossible. Then you fly for refuge The eariy
to the natural philosophers, the favourite butts of areout^^of
ridicule in the Academy, from whom even you can ^Jate.
no longer keep your hands, and you declare that
Democritus says that there are a countless number of
worlds, and what is more that some of them to such
an extent not merely resemble but completely and
absolutely match each other in every detail that there
is positively no difference between them, and that
the same is true of human beings. Then you demand
that if one world so completely matches another
world that there is not even the smallest difference
between them, it shall be granted to you that in this
world of ours hkewise some one thing so completely
matches some other thing that there is no difference
537
CICERO
intersit ; cur enim, inquies, cum ex illis individuis
unde omnia Democritus gigni adflrmat, in reliquis
mundis et in iis quidem innumerabilibus innumera-
biles Q. Lutatii Catuli non modo possint esse sed
etiam sint, in hoc tanto mundo Catulus alter non
possit effici ?
56 XVIII. " Primum quidem me ad Democritum
vocas ; cui non adsentior potiusque refello propter
id quod dilucide docetur a politioribus physicis,
singularum rerum singulas proprietates esse. Fac
enim antiquos illos Servilios, qui gemini fuerunt, tam
similes quam dicuntur : num censes etiam eosdem
fuisse ? Non cognoscebantur foris, at domi ; non ab
aHenis, at a suis. An non videmus hoc usu venisse*
ut, quos numquam putassemus a nobis internosci
posse, eos consuetudine adhibita tam facile inter-
nosceremus uti ne minimum quidem similes esse
57 ^iderentur ? Hic pugnes licet, non repugnabo ;
quin etiam concedam illum ipsum sapientem de quo
omnis hic sermo est, cum ei res similes occurrant
quas non habeat dinotatas, retenturum adsensum
nec umquam uUi \iso adsensurum nisi quod tale
fuerit quale falsum esse non possit. Sed et ad ceteras
res habet quandam artem qua vera a falsis possit
distinguere, et ad similitudines istas usus adhibendus
^ Davies : venire codd.
« The Stoics, rf. § 85.
538
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xvii. — xviii.
or distinction between them ; for what is the reason,
you will say, why whereas in the rest of the worlds,
countless numbers as they are, there not only can
be but actually are a countless number of Quintus
Lutatius Catuluses, arisen out of those atoms out of
which Democritus declares that everything comes into
existence, yet in this vast world another Catulus
cannot possibly be produced ?
6 XVIII. " In the first place indeed you summon me '^J^'"-^» ^°<^
before Democritus ; whose opinion I do not accept reaUy*"^*
but rather reject, on the ground of the fact that is ab£°^^^'
lucidly proved by more accomplished natural philo-
sophers," that particular objects possess particular
properties. For suppose that the famous Servilius
twins of old days did resemble each other as com-
pletely as they are said to have done : surely you do
not think that they were actually identical ? Out of
doors they were not known apart, but at home they
were ; they were not by strangers, but they were by
their own people. Do we not see that it has come
about that persons whom we thought we should
never be able to know apart we have come by the
exercise of habit to know apart so easily that they did
7 not appear to be even in the least degree ahke ? At
this point although you may show fight I shall not
fight back ; indeed I will actually allow that the ^^ise
man himself who is the subject of all this discussion,
when he encounters similar things that he has not got
distinguished apart, will reserve his assent, and will
never assent to any presentation unless it is of such
a description as could not belong to a false presenta-
tion. But just as he has a definite technique apphc-
able to all other objects to enable him to distinguish
the true from the false, so to the resemblances you
5S9
CICERO
est : ut mater geminos internoscit consuetudine
oculorum, sic tu internosces si adsueveris. Videsne
ut in proverbio sit ovorum inter se similitudo ? tamen
hoc accepimus, Deli fuisse complures salvis rebus
illis qui gallinas alere permultas quaestus causa
solerent ; ii cum ovum inspexerant, quae id gallina
58 peperisset dicere solebant. Neque id est contra nos,
nam nobis satis est ova illa non internoscere, nihil
enim magis adsentiri par est hoc illud esse quasi^
inter illa omnino nihil interesset ; habeo enim re-
gulam ut taUa visa vera iudicem quaha falsa esse non
possint ; ab hac mihi non Hcet transversum, ut aiunt,
digitum discedere, ne confundam omnia. Veri enim
et falsi non modo cognitio sed etiam natura tolletur
si nihil erit quod intersit, ut etiam illud absurdum
sit quodinterdum soletis dicere,cum\isa in animos im-
primantur, non vos id dicere, inter ipsas impressiones
nihil interesse, sed inter species et quasdam formas
eorum. Quasi vero non specie visa iudicentur, quae
fidem nullam habebunt sublata veri et falsi nota !
69 Illud vero perabsurdum quod dicitis probabiha vos
sequi si nuUa re impediamini. Primum qui potestis
non impediri cum a veris falsa non distent ? deinde
-quasi Madvig : quam si codd.
" Species here combines the sense of ' appearances ' with
that of ' kinds ' which it still bears in zoology ; it translates
etdv, and quasdam marks formas as an explanatory
synonym.
54,0
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xviii.
adduce he has to apply practice : just as a mother
knows her twins apart by having famiharized her eyes,
so you will know them apart if you habituate your-
self. Are you aware that the hkcness of one egg to
another is proverbial ? yet we have been told that
at Delos at the time of its prosperity a number of
people were in the habit of keeping large numbers of
hens for trade purposes ; these poultry-keepers used
to be able to tell which hen had laid an egg by merely
58 looking at it. Nor does that go against us, for we are
content not to be able to know those eggs apart,
since to agree that this egg is the same as that egg,
is nevertheless not the same thing as if there really
n-ere no distinction between them ; for I possess a
standard enabhng me to judge presentations to be
true when they have a character of a sort that false
ones could not have ; from that standard I may not
diverge a finger's breadth, as the saying is, lest I
should cause universal confusion. For not only the
knowledge but even the nature of true and false will
be done away with if there is no difference between
them, so that even the remark that you have a way
of occasionally making will be absurd — namely, that
what you assert is not that when presentations are
impressed on to the mind there is no difference be-
tween the imprints themselves, but that there is no
difference between their * species,' or so to say their
class-forms." As if forsooth presentations were not
judged wdth reference to their class, and will have
no rehabihty if the mark of truth and falsehood is
59 abohshed ! But the height of absurdity is your asser- The logicai
tion that you follow probabilities if nothing hampers [ht^theory
you. In the first place how can you be unhampered 13 'suspense
when there is no difference between true presenta- me^nt.^^
T 541
CICERO
quod iudicium est veri cum sit commune falsi ? Ex
his illa necessario nata est e-ox'?. id est adsensionis
retentio, in qua melius sibi constitit Arcesilas, si vera
sunt quae de Carneade non nulli existimant. Si
enim percipi nihil potest quod utrique visum est,
tollendus adsensus est ; quid enim est tam futtile
quam quicquam adprobare non cognitum ? Car-
neadem autem etiam heri audiebamus solitum esse
eo^ delabi interdum ut diceret opinaturum, id est
peccaturum, esse sapientem. Mihi porro non tam
certum est esse aliquid quod comprendi possit (de
quo iam nimium etiam diu disputo) quam sapientem
nihil opinari, id est numquam adsentiri rei vel falsae
60 vel incognitae. Restat illud quod dicunt veri in-
veniundi causa contra omnia dici oportere et pro
omnibus. Volo igitur videre quid invenerint. * Non
solemus,' inquit, ' ostendere.' * Quae sunt tandem
ista mysteria, aut cur celatis quasi turpe aliquid sen-
tentiam vestram ? * * Ut qui audient,' inquit, ' ratione
potius quam auctoritate ducantur.' Quid si utroque^ ?
num peius est ? Unum tamen illud non celant,
nihil esse quod percipi possit. An in eo auctoritas
nihil obest ? Mihi quidem videtur vel plurimum ;
quis enim ista tam aperte perspicueque et perversa
^ eo inseruit Davies.
* utrumque codd. plurimi.
■ i.e., a suspension of judgement
542
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xviii.
tions and false ? next, wliat criterion is therc of a
true presentation if one criterion belongs in common
to a true one and a false ? These considerations
necessarilv engendered the doctrine of epoche^'^ that
is, ' a holding back of assent,' in which Arcesilas was
more consistent, if the opinions that some people hold
about Carneades are true. For if nothing that has
presented itself to either of them can be perceived,
assent must be ^^ithheld ; for Mhat is so futile as to
approve anything that is not known ? But we kept
being tokl yesterday that Carneades was also in the
habit of takino^ refuo-e in the assertion that the wise
man will occasionally hold an opinion, that is, com-
mit an error. For my part, moreover, certain as I am
that something exists that can be grasped (the
point I have been arguing even too long already), I
am still more certain that the -wase man never holds
an opinion, that is, never assents to a thing that is
60 either false or unknown. There remains their state-
ment that for the discovery of the truth it is necessary
to argue against all things and for all things. Well
then, I should hke to see what they have discovered.
* Oh,' he says, ' it is not our practice to give an
exposition.' * What pray are these holy secrets of
yours, or why does your school conceal its doctrine
hke something disgraceful ? ' * In order,' says he,
* that our hearers may be guided by reason rather
than by authority.' Wliat about a combination of
the two ? is not that as good ? All the same, there
is one doctrine that they do not conceal — the im-
possibiHty of perceiving anything. Does authority
offer no opposition at this point ? To me at all events
it seems to offer a very great deal ; for who would
have adopted doctrines so openly and manifestly
543
CICERO
et falsa secutus esset, nisi tanta in Arcesila, multo
etiam maior in Carneade et copia rerum et dicendi
vis fuisset ?
61 XIX. " Haec Antiochus fere et Alexandreae tum
et multis annis post multo etiam adseverantius, in
S}Tia cum esset mecum paulo ante quam est mortuus.
Sed iam confirmata causa te hominem amicissimum "
— me autem appellabat — " et aliquot annis minorem
natu non dubitabo monere : Tune, cum tantis laudi-
bus philosophiam extuleris Hortensiumque nostrum
dissentientem conmioveris, eam philosophiam sequere
quae confundit vera cum falsis, spoliat nos iudicio,
privat adprobatione, omnibus^ orbat sensibus ? Et
Cimmeriis quidem, quibus aspectum soHs sive deus
aliquis sive natura ademerat sive eius loci quem in-
colebant situs, ignes tamen aderant, quorum iUis uti
lumine hcebat ; isti autem quos tu probas tantis
offusis tenebris ne scintillam quidem ullam nobis ad
dispiciendum rehquerunt ; quos si sequamur, iis
vinchs simus adstricti ut nos commovere nequeamus.
62 Sublata enim adsensione omnem et motum animorum
et actionem rerum sustulerunt ; quod non modo recte
fieri sed omnino fieri non potest. Provide etiam ne
uni tibi istam sententiam minime hceat defendere ;
an tu, cum res occultissimas aperueris in lucemque
protuleris iuratusque dixeris ea te comperisse (quod
* omni aut omnino edd.
• The Catihnarian conspiracy, 63 b.c.
^ Cicero used this expression in the senate, and it became
a cant phrase with which he was often taunted.
' A hkely emendation gives ' and it was known to me
too.'
544
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xviii. — xix.
Nvrong-headed and false, unless Arcesilas had pos-
sessed so great a supply of facts and of eloquence,
and Carneades an even much greater ?
61 XIX. " These virtually were the teachings ad- Common
vanced by Antiochus in Alexandria at the time assumes
mentioned, and also even much more dogmatically the
many years afterwards when he was staying with me o^tfnow-'
in Syria a httle before his death. But now that my '^'^»®-
case is estabhshed, I will not hesitate to give some
advice to you as a very dear friend " — he was address-
ing myself — " and a person some years my junior :
Will you, who have lauded philosophy so highly, and
have shaken our friend Hortensius in his disagreement
with you, follow a system of philosophy that con-
founds the true ^\1th the false, robs us of judgement,
despoils us of the power of approval, deprives us of
all our senses ? Even the people of Cimmeria, whom
some god, or nature, or the geographical position of
their abode, had deprived of the sight of the sun,
nevertheless had fires, which they were able to employ
for hght ; but the individuals whose authority you
accept have so beclouded us ^vith darkness that they
have not left us a single spark of hght to give us a
ghmpse of sight ; and if we followed them, we should
be fettered with chains that would prevent our being
62 able to move a step. For by doing away with assent
they have done away with all movement of the mind
and also all physical activity ; which is not only a
mistake but an absolute impossibihty. Be careful
too that you are not the one person for whom it is
most iUegitimate to uphold this theory of yours ;
what, when it was you who exposed and brought
to Uffht a deeply hidden plot ° and said on oath that
you knew about it ' * (which I might have said to 3,
5^5
CICERO
mihi quoque licebat^ qui ex te illa cognoveram),
negabis esse rem ullam quae cognosci comprendi per-
cipi possit ? Vide quaeso etiam atque etiam ne
illarum quoque rerum pulcherrimarum a te ipso
minuatur auctoritas." Quae cum dixisset ille, finem
fecit.
63 Hortensius autem vehementer admirans, quod
quidem perpetuo Lucullo loquente fecerat, ut etiam
manus saepe tolleret (nec mirum, nam numquam
arbitror contra Academiam dictum esse subtihus),me
quoque iocansne an ita sentiens (non enim satis in-
tehegebam) coepit hortari ut sententia desisterem.
Tum mihi Catulus, " Si te," inquit, " Luculh oratio
flexit, quae est habita memoriter accurate copiose,
taceo, neque te quo minus si tibi ita videatur sen-
tentiam mutes deterrendum puto. Illud vero non
censuerim ut eius auctoritate moveare, tantum enim
te non modo monuit," inquit adridens, " ut caveres
ne quis improbus tribunus plebis, quorum vides
quanta copia semper futura sit, arriperet te et in
contione quaereret qui tibi constares cum idem
negares quicquam certi posse reperiri, idem te com-
perisse dixisses. Hoc quaeso cave ne te terreat ;
de causa autem ipsa mahm quidem te ab hoc dissen-
tire, sin cesseris non magnopere mirabor, memini
enim Antiochum ipsum, cum annos multos aha sen-
^ hquebat Klotz,
5^6
ACADEMICA, 11. (Lucullus), xix.
having learnt about it from you), will you assert
that there is no fact whatever that can be learnt
and comprehended and perceived ? Pray take
care again and again that you may not yourself
cause the authority of that most glorious achieve-
ment also to be diminished." Having said this,
he ended.
3 Hortensius however, indicating emphatic admira-
tion, as he had in fact done all through Lucullus's
discourse, frequently even raising his hands in
wonder (and that was not surprising, for I do not
think the case against the Academy had ever been
argued with more minute precision), began to exhort
me also, whether in jest or earnest (for I could not
quite make out), to abandon my opinion. There-
upon Catulus said to me, " If Lucullus's speech has
w^on you over — and its dehvery showed memory, con-
centration and fluency — , I am silent, and I do not
think you ought to be frightened away from changing
your opinion if you think fit to do so. But I should
not advise your letting his authority influence you ;
for he all but warned you just now," he said with a
smile at me, " to be on your guard lest some Micked
tribune of the people — and what a plentiful supply
there ^\ill always be of them you are well aware —
should arraign you, and cross-examine you in a pubhc
assembly as to your consistency in both denying the
possibihty of finding anything certain and asserting
that you had discovered some certainty. Pray don't
be alarmed by this ; but as to the actual merits of
the case, although I should it is true prefer you to
disagree with him, if you give in I shall not be greatly
surprised, for I remember that Antiochus himself in
spite of having held other views for a number of
547
CICERO
sisset, simul ac visum sit, sententia destitisse."
Haec cum dixisset Catulus, me omnes intueri.
64 XX. Tum ego, non minus commotus quam soleo in
causis maioribus, huius modi quandam orationem^
sum exorsus. " Me, Catule, oratio Luculli de ipsa re
ita movit ut docti hominis et copiosi et parati et nihil
praetereuntis eorum quae pro illa causa dici possent,
non tamen ut ei respondere posse diffiderem ; auc-
toritas autem tanta plane me movebat, nisi tu op-
posuisses non minorem tuam. Adgrediar igitur, si
65 pauca ante quasi de fama mea dixero. Ego enim si
aut ostentatione ahqua adductus aut studio certandi
ad hanc potissimum philosophiam me adplicavi, non
modo stultitiam meam sed etiam mores et naturam
condemnandam puto. Nam si in minimis rebus per-
tinacia reprehenditur, calumnia etiam coercetur, ego
de omni statu consilioque totius vitae aut certare
cum ahis pugnaciter aut frustrari cum alios tum
etiam me ipsum vehm ? Itaque, nisi ineptum puta-
rem in tali disputatione id facere quod cum de re
pubhca disceptatur fieri interdum solet, iurarem per
lovem deosque penates me et ardere studio veri
66 reperiendi et ea sentire quae dicerem. Qui enim
possum non cupere verum invenire, cum gaudeam si
* LambiniLS : quadam oratione codd.
548
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xix.— xx.
years abandoned his opinion as soon as he saw fit."
After these words from Catulus, everybody looked
towards me.
64 XX. Thereupon I, feehng quite as nervous as I Cicero
usually do when I have a specially big case on, began !ie?ence'of
what was almost a set speech on the following Unes. scepticism
" For my part, Catulus, Lucu]lus's speech on the
actual merits of the issue has affected me as that of a
scholarly, fluent and well-equipped person who passes
by none of the arguments that can be advanced in
support of the case put forward, though all the same
not to the point of my distrusting my abihty to
answer him ; yet his great authority was unquestion-
ably working upon me, had you not set against it
your authority which is no smaller. I will therefore
set about it, after a few prehminary remarks on the
subject of my own reputation, if I may use the term.
65 For if my own motive in choosing this particular (i) Pre-
school of philosophy for my adherence was some I^^J^qI,^
sort of ostentation or combativeness, I consider that desire for
not merely my folly but even my moral character *™ ^*
deserves condemnation. For if in the most trifling
matters we censure obstinacy and actually punish
chicanery, am I hkely to want either to join battle
\\ ith others for the sake of fighting, or to deceive not
only others but myself also, when the entire system
and principle of the whole of hfe is the issue ?
Accordingly unless I thought it foohsh in such a
discussion to do what is customary occasionally in
pohtical controversy, I should swear by Jove and the
fiods of my household that I am fired with zeal for
the discovery of the truth, and that I really hold the
66 opinions that I am stating. For how can I fail to be
eager for the discovery of truth, when I rejoice if I
549
CICERO
simile veri quid invenerim ? Sed, ut hoc pulcherri-
mnm esse iudico, vera videre, sic pro veris probare
falsa turpissimum est. Nec tamen ego is sum qui
nihil umquam falsi adprobem, qui numquam ad-
sentiar, qui nihil opiner, sed quaerimus de sapiente.
Ego vero ipse et magnus quidem sum opinator (non
enim sum sapiens) et meas cogitationes sic derigo,
non ad illam parvulam Cynosuram qua
fidunt duce nocturna Phoenices in alto,
ut ait Aratus, eoque derectius gubernant quod eam
tenent quae
cursu interiore brevi convertitur orbe,
sed HeHcen et clarissimos Septemtriones, id est ra-
tiones has latiore^ specie, non ad tenue eUmatas. Eo
fit ut errem et vager latius ; sed non de me, ut dixi,
sed de sapiente quaeritur. Visa enim ista cum acriter
mentem sensumve pepulerunt accipio, iisque inter-
dum etiam adsentior (nec percipio tamen, nihil enim
arbitror posse percipi) — non sum sapiens, itaque visis
cedo neque possum resistere ; sapientis autem hanc
censet Arcesilas vim esse maximam, Zenoni adsen-
tiens, cavere ne capiatur, ne fallatur videre — nihil est
enim ab ea cogitatione quam habemus de gravitate
^ latiores ? Reid.
<• The word opinator is coined to suit the pretended self-
depreciation of the speaker.
*• See N.D. ii. 104 n., 106 : Cicero quotes his own
translation.
550
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xx.
have discovered something that resembles truth ?
But just as I deem it supremely honourable to hokl
true views, so it is supremely disgraceful to approve
falsehoods as true. And nevertheless I myself am
not the sort of person never to give approval to any-
thing false, never give absolute assent, never hold
an opinion ; it is the ^vise man that we are investi-
gating. For my own part however, although I am
a great opinion-holder '^ (for I am not a wise man),
at the same time the way in which I steer my think-
ing is not by that tiny star, the Cynosure, in which
Phoenicians place their trust by night
To guide them on the deep,
as Aratus ^ puts it, and steer the straighter because
they keep to her who
revolves upon
An inner circle and an orbit brief,
but by HeUce and the resplendent Septentriones,
that is, by these theories of wider aspect, not fined
do^vn and over-subtihzed. The result is that I
roam and wander more widely ; but it is not I, as I
said, but the wise man that is the subject of our
inquiry. For when the presentations you talk of
have struck my mind or my sense sharply I accept
them, and sometimes I actually give assent to them
(though nevertheless I do not perceive them, for I
hold that nothing can be perceived) — I am not a
wise man, and so I yield to presentations and cannot
stand out against them ; whereas the strongest
point of the wise man, in the opinion of Arcesilas,
agreeing with Zeno, hes in avoiding being taken in
and in seeing that he is not deceived — for nothing is
more removed from the conception that we have of
551
CICERO
sapientis errore, levitate, temeritate diiunctius.
Quid igitur loquar de firmitate sapientis ? quem
quidem nihil opinari tu quoque, Luculle, concedis.
Quod quoniam a te probatur (ut praepostere tecum
agam ; mox referam me ad ordinem), haec primum
67 conclusio quam habeat \im considera : XXI. ' Si ulli
rei sapiens adsentietur umquam, ahquando etiam
opinabitur ; numquam autem opinabitur ; nulli
igitur rei adsentietur.' Hanc conckisionem Arcesilas
probabat, confirmabat enim et primum et secundura
(Carneades non numquam secundum illud dabat, ad-
sentiri aliquando : ita sequebatur etiam opinari, quod
tu non vis, et recte, ut mihi videris). Sed illud
primum, sapientem si adsensurus esset etiam opina-
turum, falsum esse et Stoici dicunt et eorum adstipu-
lator Antiochus ; posse enim eum falsa a veris et quae
non possint percipi ab iis quae possint distinguere.
68 Nobis autem primum, etiam si quid percipi possit,
tamen ipsa consuetudo adsentiendi periculosa esse
videtur et lubrica, quam ob rem, cum tam vitiosum
esse constet adsentiri quicquam aut falsum aut in-
cognitum, sustinenda est potius omnis adsensio, ne
praecipitet si temere processerit ; ita enim finitima
sunt falsa veris eaque quae percipi non possunt eis
quae possunt^ (si modo ea sunt quaedam : iam enim
videbimus) ut tam in praecipitem locum non debeat
se sapiens committere. Sin autem omnino nihil esse
quod percipi possit a me sumpsero et quod tu mihi
* eis quae possunt inseruit Reid.
559.
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xx.— xxi.
the dignity of the wise man than error, frivolity or
rashness. What then shall I say about the wise
man's firmness ? even you, Lucullus, allow that he
never advances a mere opinion. And since you
agree with this (to deal with you out of turn : I \vi\\
soon return to a regular procedure), consider first
67 the vahdity of this syllogism : XXI. ' If the wise man Thedariit
ever assents to anyfhing, he will sometimes also form ^^'^^^^'^^-
an opinion ; but he never ^vill form an opinion ;
therefore he will not assent to anything.' This
syllogism Arcesilas used to approve, for he used to
accept both the major premiss and the minor (Car-
neades used sometimes to grant as minor premiss that
the wise man sometimes assents, so that it followed
that he also holds an opinion, which you will not allow,
and rightly, as I think). But the major premiss, that
if the wise man did assent he would also hold an
opinion, both the Stoics and their supporter Antiochus
declare to be false, arguing that the wise man is
able to distinguish the false from the true and the
68 imperceptible from the perceptible. But in our
' view, in the first place, even if anything could be ,
perceived, nevertheless the mere habit of assent-
ing appears dangerous and shppery, and therefore
since it is agreed that to give assent to anything
that is either false or unknown is so serious a fault,
preferably all assent is to be withheld, to avoid having
a serious fall if one goes forward rashly ; for things
false he so close to things true, and things that cannot
be perceived to things that can (assuming there are
such things, which we shall see soon), that it is the
duty of the \\Tise man not to trust himself to such a
steep slope. But if on the contrary I assume on my
own authority that there is nothing at all that can be
553
CICERO
das accepero, sapientem nihil opinari, effectuni illud
erit, sapientem adsensus omnes cohibiturum, ut
videndum tibi sit idne malis an aliquid opinaturum
esse sapientem. ' Neutrum,' inquies, ' illorum/
Nitamur igitur nihil posse percipi ; etenim de eo
omnis est controversia.
69 XXII. " Sed prius pauca cum Antiocho, qui haec
ipsa quae a me defenduntur et didicit apud Philonem
tam diu ut constaret diutius didicisse neminem, et
scripsit de his rebus acutissime, et idem haec non
acrius accusavit in senectute quam antea defensita-
verat. Quamvis igitur fuerit acutus, ut fuit, tamen
inconstantia levatur auctoritas. Quis enim iste dies
inluxerit quaero qui illi ostenderit eam quam multos
annos esse negitavisset veri et falsi notam. Excogi-
tavit aliquid ? Eadem dicit quae Stoici. Paenituit
illa sensisse ? Cur non se transtuht ad aHos, et
maxime ad Stoicos ? eorum enim erat propria ista dis-
sensio. Quid ? eum Mnesarchi paenitebat ? quid ?
Dardani ? qui erant Athenis tum principes Stoicorum.
Numquam a Philone discessit, nisi postea quam ipse
70 coepit qui se audirent habere. Unde autem subito
vetus Academia revocata est ? Nominis dignitatem
554
ACADEMICA, 11. (Lucullus), xxi.— xxii.
perceived, and accept your admission that the wise
man forms no opinion, this will prove that the \nse
man %\ill restrain all acts of assent, so that you will
have to consider whether you prefer this view or the
view that the wise man will hold some opinion.
* Neither of those views,' you will say. Let us there-
fore stress the point that nothing can be perceived,
for it is on that that all the controversy turns.
69 XXIL " But first let us have a few words with Anti- fj"^^^
ochus, who studied under Philo the very doctrines K^mintT.
that I am championing for such a long time that it
was agreed that nobody had studied them longer,
and who also wrote upon these subjects with the
greatest penetration, and who nevertheless in his old
age denounced this system, not more keenly than he
had pre\iously been in the habit of defending it.
Although therefore he may have been penetrating,
as indeed he was, nevertheless lack of constancy does
diminish the weight of authorlty. For I am curious to
know the exact date of the day whose da\\Tiing light
revealed to him that mark of truth and falsehood
which he had for many years been in the habit of
denying. Did he think out something original ? His
pronouncements are the same as those of the Stoics.
Did he become dissatisfied with his former opinions ?
Why did he not transfer himself to another school,
and most of all why not to the Stoics ? for that dis-
agreement with Philo was the special tenet of the
Stoic school. What, was he dissatisfied with Mnes-
archus ? or with Dardanus ? they were the leaders
of the Stoics at Athens at the time. He never quitted
Philo, except after he began to have an audience of
70 his own. I3ut why this sudden revival of the Old
Academy ? It is thought that he wanted to retain
555
CICERO
videtur, cum a re ipsa descisceret, retinere voluisse—
quod erant qui illum gloriae causa facere dicerent,
sperare etiam ut ii qui se sequerentur Antiochii
vocarentur. Mihi autem magis videtur non potuisse
sustinere concursum omnium philosophorum (etenim
de ceteris sunt inter illos non nulla communia, haec
Academicorum est una sententia quam reliquorum
philosophorum nemo probet) ; itaque cessit, et, ut
ii qui sub Novis solem non ferunt, item ille cum ae-
stuaret veterum ut Maenianorum sic Academicorum
71 umbram secutus est. Quoque solebat uti argumento
tum cum ei placebat nihil possepercipi,cumquaereret,
Dionysius ille Heracleotes utrum comprehendisset
certa illa nota qua adsentiri dicitis oportere — illudne
quod multos annos tenuisset Zenonique magistro
credidisset, honestum quod esset id bonum solum
esse, an quod postea defensitavisset, honesti inane
nomen esse, voluptatem esse summum bonum ? — qui
ex ilHus commutata sententia docere vellet nihil ita
signari in animis nostris a vero posse quod non eodem
modo posset a falso, is curavit quod argumentum ex
Dionysio ipse sumpsisset ex eo ceteri sumerent. Sed
cum hoc aho loco plura, nunc ad ea quae a te, Luculle,
dicta sunt.
* Novae Tabernae, a row of silversmiths' and money-
changers' booths skirting the Forum.
* Timber balconies added to shops round the Forum, to
accommodate spectators at the games. Maenius was consul
338 B.c.
* Antiochus had refuted the doctrine that truth can be
discerned because it commands the instinctive assent of the
mind by pointing out that a prominent exponent of this
doctrine had at different times assented to two contradictory
opinions. Yet he himself later on underwent an equally
violent change of opinion.
556
ACADEMICA, 11. (Lucullus), xxii.
the dignity of the name in spite of abandoning the
reahty — for in fact some persons did aver that his
motive was ostentation, and even that he hoped that
his follo\\ing would be styled the School of Antiochus.
But I am more inclined to think that he was unable
to withstand the united attack of all the philosophers
(for although they have certain things in common on
all other subjects, this is the one doctrine of the
Academics that no one of the other schools approves) ;
and accordingly he gave way, and, just like people
who cannot bear the sun under the New Row," took
refuge from the heat in tlie shade of the Old Academy,
71 as they do in the shadow of the Balconies.^ And as
to the argument that he was in the habit of employing
at the period when he held that nothing could be
perceived, which consisted in asking which of his two
doctrines had the famous Dionysius of Heraclea
grasped by means of that unmistakable mark which
according to your school ought to be the foundation
of assent — the doctrine that he had held for many
years and had accepted on the authority of his master
Zeno, that only the morally honourable is good, or
the doctrine that he had made a practice of defending
afterwards, that morality is an empty name, and that
the supreme good is pleasure ? — in spite of Antiochus's
attempt to prove from Dionysius's change of opinion
that no impression can be printed on our minds by a
true presentation of a character that cannot also be
caused by a false one, he yet ensured that the
argument which he himself had drawn from Dionysius
should be drawn by everybody else from himself."
But with him I will deal more at length else-
where ; I turn now, Lucullus, to what was said by
you.
557
CICERO
72 XXIII. ** Et primum quod initio dixisti videamus
quale sit, similiter a nobis de antiquis philosophis
commemorari atque seditiosi solerent claros viros sed
tamen populares aUquos nominare. IUi cum res
non^ bonas tractent, similes bonorum videri volunt ;
nos autem ea dicimus nobis videri quae vosmet ipsi
nobihssimis philosophis placuisse conceditis. Anax-
agoras nivem nigram dixit esse : ferres me si ego
idem dicerem ? tu ne si dubitarem quidem. At quis
est hic ? num sophistes (sic enim appellabantur ii qui
ostentationis aut quaestus causa philosophabantur) ?
73 Maxima fuit et gravitatis et ingenii gloria. Quid
loquar de Democrito ? Quem cum eo conferre possu-
mus non modo ingenii magnitudine sed etiam animi,
qui ita sit ausus ordiri, ' Haec loquor de universis ' ?
nihil excipit de quo non profiteatur, quid enim esse
potest extra universa ? Quis hunc philosophum
non anteponit Cleanthi Chrysippo rehquis inferioris
aetatis, qui mihi cum illo collati quintae classis
videntur ? Atque is non hoc dicit quod nos, qui veri
esse ahquid non negamus, percipi posse negamus ;
ille verum plane negat esse ; sensusque idem^ non
obscuros dicit sed tenebricosos — sic enim appellat
^ non inseruit Ascensius.
2 Reid : sensus quidem codd.
" § 13.
^ Apparently he argued that black was the real colour
of snow because snow is water and water of very great depth
is very dark in colour.
'^ Sextus, Adversus MatJiematicos vii. ^65 A-qfMdKpiTos 6 ry
Aibs (ji'j)v^ TrapeLKa^o/Jievos Kai Xeywv " Ta8e irepl twv ^v/xTrdvTwv.''^
<* This proverbial expression, derived from the classifica-
tion of the population ascribed to King Servius Tullius,
558
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xxiii,
72 XXIII. " And first let us see what we are to make (2) Repiy to
ot your remark at the begimiing,^ that our way of first
recaUing ancient philosopliers was hke the sedition- ^[S^J.'- '
mongers' habit of putting forward the names of per- sophera are
sons who are men of distinction but yet of popular scepticaL
leanings. Those people although they have unworthy
designs in hand desire to appear like men of worth ;
and we in our turn declare that the views we hold
are ones that you yourselves admit to have been
approved by the noblest of philosophers. Anaxagoras
said ^ that snow is black : would you endure me if
I said the same ? Not you, not even if I expressed
myself as doubtful. But who is this Anaxagoras ?
surely not a sophist (for that is the name that used
to be given to people \vho pursued philosophy for
the sake of display or profit) ? Why, he was a man
73 of the highest renown for dignity and intellect. Why
should I talk about Democritus ? Whom can we com-
pare for not only greatness of intellect but also great-
aess of soul, with one who dared to begin, ' These
are my utterances about the universe ' ^ ? — he excepts
nothing as not covered by his pronouncement, for
what can be outside the universe ? Who does not
place this philosopher before Cleanthes or Chrysippus
or the rest of the later period, who compared with
him seem to me to belong to the fifth class ^ ? And
he does not mean what we mean, who do not deny
that some truth exists but deny that it can be per-
ceived ; he flatly denies that truth exists at all ; and
at the same time says that the senses are (not dim
but) ' fuU of darkness ' * — for that is the term he uses
occurs here only. Horace, Sat. i. 11. 47, has * in classe
secunda ' of ' second-class ' merchandise.
559
CICERO
eos. Is qui hiinc maxime est admiratus, Chius Metro
dorus, initio libri qui est de natura, ' Nego ' inquit
* scire nos sciamusne ahquid an nihil sciamus, ne id
ipsum quidem, nescire (aut scire), scire nos, nec
74 omnino sitne ahquid an nihil sit.' Furere tibi
Empedocles videtur, at mihi dignissimum rebus iis
de quibus loquitur sonum fundere ; num ergo is
excaecat nos aut orbat sensibus si parum magnam
vim censet in iis esse ad ea quae sub eos subiecta sunt
iudicanda ? Parmenides, Xenophanes, minus bonis
quamquam versibus sed tamen ilH^ versibus, increpant
eorum adrogantiam quasi irati, qui cum sciri nihil
possit audeant se scire dicere. Et ab eis aiebas re-
movendum Socraten et Platonem. Cur ? an de ulhs
certius possum dicere ? vixisse cum iis equidem
\ideor : ita multi sermones perscripti sunt e quibus
dubitari non possit quin Socrati nihil sit visum sciri
posse ; excepit unum tantum, scire se nihil se scire,
nihil amphus. Quid dicam de Platone ? qui certe
tam multis hbris haec persecutus non esset nisi proba-
visset, ironiam enim alterius, perpetuam praesertim,
75 nuha fuit ratio persequi. XXIV. Videorne tibi non
ut Saturninus nominare modo inlustres homines, sed
etiam imitari numquam nisi clarum, nisi nobilem ?
Atqui habebam molestos vobis, sed minutos, Stil-
^ iWis, nonnulli codd.
~ « See § 14. " Ibid.
5G0
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xxiii. — xxiv.
tbr them. His greatest admirer, the Chian Metro-
dorus, at the beginning of his volume 0?i Nature says :
I deny that we know whether we know something
or know nothing, and even that we know the mere
fact that we do not know (or do know), or know at
74 all whether something exists or nothing exists.' You
think that Empedocles raves,^ but I think that he
sends forth an utterance most suited to the dignity
of the subject of which he is speaking ; surely there-
fore he is not making us bhnd or depriving us of our
senses if he holds the opinion that they do not possess
sufficient force to enable them to judge the objects
that are submitted to them ? Parmenides and
Xenophanes — in less good verse it is true but all
the same it is verse — inveiofh almost anffrily as^ainst
the arrogance of those who dare to say that they
know, seeing that nothing can be known. Also you
said ^ that Socrates and Plato must not be classed
with them. Why ? can I speak with more certain
knowledge about any persons ? I seem to have
actually Uved with them, so many dialogues have
been put in writing which make it impossible to doiibt
that Socrates held that nothing can be known ; he
made only one exception, no more — he said that he
did know that he knew nothing. Why should I speak
about Plato ? he certainly would not have set out
these doctrines in so many volumes if he had not
accepted them, for otherwise there was no sense in
setting out the irony of the other master, especially
75 as it was unending. XXIV. Do you agree that I do
not merely cite the names of persons of renown, as
Saturninus did, but invariably take some famous and
di-tinguished thinker as my model ? Yet I had avail-
able philosophers who give trouble to your school,
CICERO
ponem Diodorum Alexinum, quorum sunt contorta
et aculeata quaedam sophismata (sic enim appellantur
fallaces conclusiunculae) ; sed quid eos colligam cum
habeam Chrysippum, qui fulcire putatur porticum
Stoicorum ? Quam multa ille contra sensus, quam
multa contra omnia quae in consuetudine probantur !
At dissolvit idem. Mihi quidem non videtur ; sed
dissolverit sane : certe tam multa non collegisset
quae nos fallerent probabiHtate magna nisi videret
76 iis resisti non facile posse. Quid Cyrenaici tibi^
videntur, minime contempti philosophi ? qui negant
esse quicquam quod percipi possit extrinsecus : ea se
sola percipere quae tactu intumo sentiant, ut dolorem,
ut voluptatem, neque se quo quid colore aut quo sono
sit scire sed tantum sentire adfici se quodam modo.
" Satis multa de auctoribus — quamquam ex me
quaesieras nonne putarem post illos veteres tot
saecuhs inveniri verum potuisse tot ingeniis tantis^
studiis quaerentibus. Quid inventum sit paulo post
videro, te ipso quidem iudice. Arcesilan vero non
obtrectandi causa cum Zenone pugnavisse, sed verum
77 invenire voluisse sic intehegitur. Nemo umquam su-
periorum non modo expresserat sed ne dixerat quidem
^ tibi inseruit Durand. ^ tantis ? Reid : tantisque codd,
" The Stoa Poikile at Athens, the meeting-place of the
school, which took its name from it.
* In § 16.
562
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xxiv.
calthoiigh they are petty in their method, Stilpo,
Diodorus, Alexinus, the authors of certain tortuous
and pungent sophismata (as the term is for Uttle syllo-
gistic traps) ; but why should I bring in them, when
I have Chrysippus, supposed to be a buttress of the
Stoics' Colonnade ^* ? What a number of arguments
he produced against the senses, and against every-
thing that is approved in common expcrience ! But
he also refuted those arguments, you will say. For
my own part I don't think that he did ; but suppose
he did refute them, yet undoubtedly he would not
have collected so many arguments to take us in with
their great probabihty if he had not been aware that
76 they could not easily be wlthstood. What do you
think of the Cyrenaics, by no means despicable
philosophers ? they maintain that nothing external
to themselves is perceptible, and that the only things
that they do perceive are the sensations due to in-
ternal contact, for example pain and pleasure, and
that they do not know that a thing has a particular
colour or sound but only feel that they are themselves
affected in a certain manner.
" Enough about authority — although you had put (3)Scepti-
the question ^ to me whether I did not think that go™ ^"5"°'^'
with so many able minds carrying on the search with uncertainty
such zealous energy, after so many ages since the old tfon!'^^^^
philosophers mentioned, the truth might possibly
have been discovered. What actually has been dis-
covered permit me to consider a little later, with you
yourself indeed as umpire. But that Arcesilas did
not do battle with Zeno merely for the sake of criticiz-
ing him, but really wished to discover the truth, is
77 gathered from what foUows. That it is possible for
a human being to hold no opinions, and not only
563
CICERO
posse hominem nihil opinari, nec solum posse sed
ita necesse esse sapienti ; visa est Arcesilae cum vera
sententia tum honesta et digna sapiente. Quaesivit
de Zenone fortasse quid futurum esset si nec percipere
quicquam posset sapiens nec opinari sapientis esset.
Ille, credo, nihil opinaturum quoniam esset quod
percipi pcsset. Quid ergo id esset ? Visum, credo.
Quale igitur visum ? Tum illum ita definisse, ex eo
quod esset, sicut esset, impressum et signatum et
effictum. Post requisitum, etiamne si eiusdem modi
esset visum verum quale vel falsum. Hic Zenonem
vidisse acute nullum esse visum quod percipi posset,
si id tale esset ab eo quod est ut eiusdem modi ab eo
quod non est posset esse. Recte consensit Arcesilas
ad definitionem additum, neque enim falsum percipi
posse neque verum si esset tale quale vel falsum ;
incubuit autem in eas disputationes ut doceret nullum
tale esse visum a vero ut non eiusdem modi etiam a
78 falso possit esse. Haec est una contentio quae adhuc
permanserit. Nam illud, nulU rei adsensumm esse
564
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xxiv.
tliat it is possible but that it is the duty of the wise
man, had not only never been distinctly formulated
but had never even been stated by any of his pre-
decessors ; but Arcesilas deemed this view both true
and also honourable and worthy of a wise man. We
may suppose him putting the question to Zeno, what
Mould happen if the Mise man was unable to perceive
anything and if also it was the mark of the wise man
not to form an opinion. Zeno no doubt replied that
the wise man's reason for abstaining from forming
an opinion would be that there was something that
could be perceived. What then was this ? asked
Arcesilas. A presentation, was doubtless the answer.
Then what sort of a presentation ? Hereupon no
doubt Zeno defined it as follows, a presentation im-
pressed and sealed and moulded from a real object,
in conformity with its reahty. There followed the
further question, did this hold good even if a true
presentation was of exactly the same form as a false
one ? At this I imagine Zeno was sharp enough to
see that if a presentation proceeding from a real
thing was of such a nature that one proceeding from
a non-existent thing could be of the same form, there
was no presentation that could be perceived. Ar-
cesilas agreed that this addition to the definition was
correct, for it was impossible to perceive either a false
presentation or a true one if a true one had such a
character as even a false onc might have ; but he
pressed the points at issue further in order to show
that no presentation proceeding from a true object
is such that a presentation proceeding from a false
78 one might not also be of the same form. This is ihe
one argument that has hekl the field down to the
present day. For the point that the wise man will
565
CICERO
sapientem, nihil ad hanc controversiam pertinebat ;
licebat enim nihil percipere et tamen opinari — quod
a Carneade dicitur probatum, equidem Clitomacho
plus quam Philoni aut Metrodoro credens hoc magis
ab eo disputatum quam probatum puto. Sed id omit-
tamus. Illud certe opinatione et perceptione sublata
sequitur, omnium adsensionum retentio, ut, si osten-
dero nihil posse percipi, tu concedas numquam ad-
sensurum esse.^
79 XXV. " Quid ergo est quod percipi possit, si ne
sensus quidem vera nuntiant ? Quos tu, LucuUe,
communi loco defendis ; quod ne ita^ facere posses,
idcirco heri non necessario loco contra sensus tam
multa dixeram. Tu autem te negas infracto remo
neque columbae collo commoveri. Primum cur ?
nam et in remo sentio non esse id quod videatur, et
in columba pluris \ideri colores nec esse plus uno.
Deinde nihilne praeterea diximus ? Maneant^ illa
omnia, iacet* ista causa. Veraces suos esse sensus
dicit. Igitur semper auctorem habes, et eum qui
magno suo periculo causam agat ! eo enim rem
demittit Epicurus, si unus sensus semel in vita men-
80 titus sit, nulU umquam esse credendum. Hoc est
verum esse, confidere suis testibus et in pravitate^
insistere ! Itaque Timagoras Epicureus negat sibi um-
quam, cum oculum torsisset, duas ex lucerna flam-
^ esse : sit necesse ? Reid.
2 ita Miiller : id codd.
^ manent Reid.
* iacet Reid : lacerat, iaceat codd.
' in pravitate Reid : inportata, inportane codd,
" §§ 19 fF. ^ See § 19.
* The third person, used of the person addressed, is rather
contemptuous.
566
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xxiv.— xxv.
not assent to anything had no essential bearing on
this dispute ; for he might perceive nothing and yet
form an opinion — a view which is said to have been
accepted by Carneades ; although for my own part,
trusting Chtomachus more than Philo or Sletrodorus,
I beheve that Carneades did not so much accept this
view as advance it in argument. But let us drop
that point. If the acts of opining and perceiving
are abohshed, it undoubtedly follows that all acts
of assent must be withheld, so that if I succeed in
proving that nothing can be perceived, you must
admit that the wise man will never assent.
79 XXV. " What is there then that can be perceived, W Even^
if not even the senses report the truth ? You defend are iin^^^
them, Lucullus, by a stock argument " ; but it was -ertain:
to prevent your being able to do it in that way that I
had gone out of my way yesterday to say so much
against the senses. Yet you assert ^ that the broken
oar and the pigeon's neck don't upset you. In the
first place why ? for in the instance of the oar I per-
ceive that what is seen is not real, and in that of the
pigeon that several colours are seen and really there
are not more than one. In the next place, surely we
said much beside that ! Suppose all our arguments
stand, the case of you people collapses. His own
senses, quoth he,'' are truthful ! If so, you always
have an authority, and one to risk his all in defence
of the cause ! for Epicurus brings the issue to this
point, that if one sense has told a he once in a man's
10 life, no sense must ever be beheved. This is true Exampiea
candour — to trust in one's own witnesses and persist sense of^
in perversity ! Accordingly, Timagoras the Epicu- sight:
rean denies that he has ever really seen two httle
flames coming from the lamp when he has screwed up
567
CICERO
mulas esse visas ; opinionis enim esse mendacium, non
oculorum. Quasi quaeratur quid sit, non quid videa-
tur ! Sit hic quidem maiorum similis ; tu vero, qui
visa sensibus alia vera dicas esse, alia falsa, qui ea
distinguis ? Et desine,^ quaeso, communibus locis ;
domi nobis ista nascuntur ! Si, inquis, deus te
interroget sanis modo et integris sensibus num
amplius quid desideres, quid respondeas ? Utinam
quidem roget ! audiret- quam nobiscum male age-
ret ! Ut enim vera videamus, quam longe videmus ?
Ego Catuli Cumanum ex hoc loco cerno et e regione'
video, Pompeianum non cerno, neque quicquam inter-
iectum est quod obstet, sed intendi acies longius
non potest. O praeclarum prospectum ! Puteolos
videmus, at famiharem nostrum C. Avianium
fortasse in porticu Neptuni ambulantem non vide-
81 mus ; at ille nescio qui qui in schohs nominari solet
mille et octingenta stadia quod abesset \idebat :
quaedam volucres longius. Responderem igitur
audacter isti vestro deo me plane his ocuhs non esse
contentum. Dicet me acrius videre quam illos pisces
fortasse qui neque \identur a nobis et nunc quidem
sub ocuh's sunt neque ipsi nos suspicere possunt ;
ergo ut illis aqua, sic nobis aer crassus offunditur.
* Sed desine edd. (Desine vel Desiste Reid),
2 Davies : audires, audies codd.
' et e regione Reid : regionem codd.
" Presumably a pubHc resort at Puteoli, the modern
Pozzuoli.
" Pliny, Nat. IJist. vii. 85, repeats this astounding story
on Cicero's authority, although he gives the distance as
135,000 paces ; and he quotes from \'arro that the telescopic
person's name was Strabo, and that from Libybaeum in
Sicily he saw the Punic fleet sail from Carthage.
568
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xxv.
an eye, since it is a lie of the opinion, not of the eyes.
As though the question were \vhat exists, not what
seems to exist ! However, Timagoras may be allowed
to be true to his intellectual ancestry ; but as for
you. who say that some sense-presentations are true
and some false, how do you distinguish them apart ?
And do pray desist from mere stock arguments :
those are products we have a home supply of ! If a
god, you say, were to inquire of you whether, given
healthy and sound senses, you want anything more,
what would you reply ? Indeed I -wish he would
make the inquiry ! he would be told how badly he
was deahng M-ith us ! For even granting that our
sight is accurate, how ^^ide is its range ? I can make
out Catulus's place at Cumae from where we are,
and can see it straight in front of me, but I can't
make out his villa at Pompei, although there is
nothing in between to block the \-iew, but my sight
is not able to carry any further. O what a glorious
view ! We can see Puteoh, but we can't see our
friend Gaius x\vianius, who is very hkely taking a
stroll in the Colonnade of Neptune ** ; whereas that
somebody or other who is regularly quoted in lectures
used to see an object two hundred and twenty-five
miles oflT,^ and certain birds can see further. There-
fore I should boldly answer that deity of your friends
that I am by no means satisfied with the eyes that I
have got. He will say that my sight is keener than
that of the fishes down there, very hkely, which we
cannot see though they are under our eyes at the
very moment, and which also themselves cannot see
us above them ; it follows that we are shut in by an
opaque envelope of air as they are by one of water.
569
CICERO
At amplius non desideramus^ ! Quid ? talpam num
desiderare lumen putas ? Neque tam quererer cum
deo quod parum longe quam quod falsum viderem.
Videsne navem illam ? stare nobis videtur, at iis qui
in navi sunt moveri haec villa. Quaere rationem cur
ita videatur ; quam ut maxime inveneris, quod haud
scio an non possis, non tu verum te^ testem habere,
sed eum non sine causa falsum testimonium dicere
82 ostenderis. XXVI. Quid ego de nave ? vidi enim a
te remum contemni ; maiora fortasse quaeris. Quid
potest esse sole maius, quem mathematici amplius
duodeviginti partibus confirmant maiorem esse
quam terram ? Quantulus nobis videtur ! mihi
quidem quasi pedahs. Epicurus autem posse putat
etiam minorem esse eum quam videatur, sed non
multo ; ne maiorem quidem multo putat esse, vel
tantum esse quantus \ddeatur, ut ocuh aut nihil
mentiantur aut non multum. Ubi igitur illud est
* semel ' ? Sed ab hoc credulo, qui numquam sensus
mentiri putat, discedamus, qui ne nunc quidem, cum
ille sol, qui tanta incitatione fertur ut celeritas eius
quanta sit ne cogitari quidem possit, tamen nobis
83 stare \ddeatur. Sed ut minuam controversiam,
videte quaeso quam in parvo hs sit. Quattuor sunt
capita quae concludant nihil esse quod nosci percipi
comprehendi possit, de quo haec tota quaestio est :
e quibus primum est esse ahquod visum falsum,
^ desiderant Christ. * te inseruit Davies.
• §19.
* Latin arithmetic expressed the proportion of 19 to 1
by sajang that ' 19 is greater than 1 by 18 parts.'
« See § 79 Jin.
570
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xxv.— xxvi.
But, you say, we don't wish for more ! What, do you
think a mole doesn't wish for Hght ? And I should
not quarrel with the deity so much about the limited
range of my sight as about its inaccuracy. Do you
see yonder ship ? To us she appears to be at anchor,
whereas to those on board her this house appears in
motion. Seek for a reason for this appearance, and
however much you succeed in finding one — though I
doubt if you can — you will not have made out that
you have got a true mtness but that your witness is
32 for reasons of his o\vn giving false evidence. XXVI.
Why do I talk about a ship ? for I saw " that you think
the illustration of the oar contemptible ; perhaps you
want bigger examples. What can be bigger than
the sun, which the mathematicians declare to be
nineteen times the size of the earth ^ ? How tiny it
looks to us ! to me it seems about a foot in diameter.
Epicurus on the other hand thinks that it may possibly
be even smaller than it looks, though not much ; he
thinks that it is not much larger either, or else
exactly the size that it appears to be, so that the
eyes either do not lie at all or else not much. What
becomes then of that ' once ' ^ of which we spoke ?
But let us quit this guUible person, who thinks that
the senses never he, — not even now% when the sun up
there, that is travelhng with such rapidity that the
magnitude of its velocity cannot even be conceived,
33 nevertheless appears to us to be standing still. But
to narrow down the controversy, pray see how small
a point it is on which the issue turns. There are four
heads of argument intended to prove that there is
nothing that can be kno^vn, perceived or compre-
hended, which is the subject of all this debate : the
first of these arguments is that there is such a thing
571
CICERO
secundum non posse id percipi, tertium inter quae visa
nihil intersit fieri non posse ut eorum alia percipi
possint, alia non possint, quartum nullum esse visum
verum a sensu profectum cui non adpositum sit visum
aliud quod ab eo nihil intersit quodque percipi non
possit. Horum quattuor capitum secundum et ter-
tium omnes concedunt ; primum Epicurus non dat,
vos quibuscum res est id quoque conceditis ; omnis
84 pugna de quarto est. Qui igitur P. ServiHum
Geminum videbat, si Quintum se videre putabat,
incidebat in eius modi visum quod percipi non posset,
quia nulla nota verum distinguebatur a falso ; qua
distinctione sublata quam haberet in C. Cotta qui
bis cum Gemino consul fuit agnoscendo eius modi
notam quae falsa esse non posset ? Negas tantam
simiUtudinem in rerum natura esse. Pugnas omnino,
sed cum adversario facili ; ne sit sane : videri certe
potest, fallet igitur sensum, et si una fefellerit
simihtudo, dubia omnia reddiderit ; sublato enim
iudicio illo quo oportet agnosci, etiamsi ipse erit
quem videris qui tibi videbitur, tamen non ea nota
iudicabis, qua dicis oportere, ut non possit esse
85 eiusdem modi falsa. Quando igitur potest tibi P.
« Identical pictures may be formed in the mind (1) truly,
when one of the senses is aflFected by an external object, and
(2) falsely, when we mistake one object for another, or when
we merely imagine we see an object. In the latter case the
mental picture is not ' perceived ' in the technical sense here
assumed. Therefore it is not ' perceived ' in the former case
either. * See § 56.
572
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xxvi.
a*: a false prescntation ; the second, that a false pre-
scntation cannot he perceivcd : the third. that of pre-
sentations bctwecn -svhich there is no ditfcrence it is
impossible for some to be able to be perceived and
others not ; the fourth, that there is no true pre-
sentation oris-inatinfj from sensation with which there
is not ranged another presentation that precisely
corresponds to it and that cannot be perceived."' The
second and third of these four arguments are admitted
by everybody ; the first is not granted by Epicurus,
but you with whom we are dealing admit that one
84 too ; the entire battle is about the fourth. If there- indis-
tinsuishable
fore a person looking at Publius ServiUus Geminus ^ resem-
used to think he saw Quintus, he was encountering biancea.
a presentation of a sort that could not be perceived,
because there was no mark to distinguish a true pre-
sentation from a false one ; and if that mode of dis-
tinguishing were removed, what mark would he have,
of such a sort that it could not be false, to help him
to recognize Gaius Cotta, who M'as twice consul with
Geminus ? You say that so great a degree of resem-
blance does not exist in the world. You show fight,
no doubt, but you have an easy-going opponent ; let
us grant by all means that it does not exist, but un-
doubtedly it can appear to exist, and therefore it will
cheat the sense, and if a single case of resemblance
has done that, it will have made everything doubtful ;
for when that proper canon of recognition has been
removed, even if the man himself whom you see
is the man he appears to you to be, nevertheless
you ^nll not make that judgement, as you say it
ought to be made, by means of a mark of such a sort
that a false hkeness coukl not liave the same char-
85 acter. Therefore seeing that it is possible for Pubhus
u 513
CICERO
Geminus Quintus videri, quid habes explorati cnr
non possit tibi Cotta videri qui non sit, quoniam
aliquid videtur esse quod non est ? Omnia dicis sui
generis esse, nihil esse idem quod sit aliud. Stoicum
est istuc quidem nec admodum credibile, nullum esse
pilum omnibus rebus talem qualis sit pilus alius,
nullum granum. Haec refelli possunt, sed pugnare
nolo ; ad id enim quod agitur nihil interest omnibusne
partibus visa res nihil difFerat an internosci non
possit etiamsi difFerat. Sed si hominum similitudo
tanta esse non potest, ne signorum quidem ? Dic
mihi, Lysippus eodem aere, eadem temperatione,
eodem caelo atque^ ceteris omnibus centum Alex-
andros eiusdem modi facere non posset ? qua igitur
86 notione discerneres ? Quid si in eiusdem modi cera
centum sigilla hoc anulo impressero, ecquae poterit
in agnoscendo esse distinctio ? an tibi erit quae-
rendus anularius aliqui, quoniam galhnarium in-
venisti DeUacum illum qui ova cognosceret ? XXVII.
Sed adhibes artem advocatam etiam sensibus.
Pictor videt quae nos non videmus, et simul inflavit
tibicen a perito carmen agnoscitur. Quid ? hoc
nonne videtur contra te valere, si sine magnis arti-
ficiis, ad quae pauci accedunt, nostri quidem generis
admodum, nec videre nec audire possimus ? lara
illa praeclara, quanto artificio esset sensus nostros
^ atque Reid : aqua codd.
' See §§ 50, 54, 56.
" Lysippus had sole permission from Alexander to make
statues of him ; he made a great many.
" See § 57. «* See § 20. • § 30.
574
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xxvi.— xxvii.
Geminus Quintus to appear to you, what reason have
you for being satisfied that a person who is not Cotta
cannot appear to you to be Cotta, inasmuch as some-
thing that is not real appears to be real ? You say
that everything is in a class of its own,'* and that
nothing is the same as what some other thing is.
That is, it is true, a Stoic argument, and it is not a very
convincing one — that no hair or grain of sand is in all
respects the same as another hair or grain. These
assertions can be refuted, but I don't want to fight ;
for it makes no diiference to the point at issue whether
an object completely Mithin sight does not differ at all
from another or cannot be distinguished from it even
if it does differ. But if so great a resemblance be-
tween human beings is impossible, is it also impossible
between statues ? Tell me, could not Lysippus,^ by
means of the same bronze, the same blend of metals,
the same graver and all the other requisites, make a
hundred Alexanders of the same shape ? then by
what mode of recognition would you tell them apart ?
6 Weil, if I imprint a hundred seals ^^ith this ring on
lumps of wax of the same sort, y<i.\\ there possibly be
any mode of distinction to aid in recognizing them ?
Or \v\\\ you have to seek out some jeweller, as you
found that poultry-keeper ^ at Delos who recognized
eggs ? XX\TI. But you call in the aid of art ^ to
plead in defence even of the senses. A painter sees
things that we do not, and a musical expert recog-
nizes a tune as soon as a flute-player has blown a
note. Well, does not this seem to tell against you,
if without great artistic acquirements, to which few
people, of our race indeed very few, attain, we are
unable either to see or to hear ? Again those were re-
markable points ^ about the high artistic skill shown
575
CICERO
mentemque et totam constnictionem hominis fabri-
87 cata natura. Cur non extimescam opinandi temeri
tatem ? Etiamne hoc adfirmare potes, Luculle, esse
aliquam vim, cum prudentia et consilio scilicet, quae
finxerit vel, ut tuo verbo utar, quae fabricata sit
hominem ? Qualis ista fabrica est ? ubi adhibita ?
quando ? cur ? quo modo ? Tractantur ista in-
geniose, disputantur etiam eleganter ; denique
videantur sane, ne adfirmentur modo. Sed de
physicis mox (et quidem ob eam causam ne tu, qui
id me facturum paulo ante dixeris, videare mentitus) ;
sed ut ad ea quae clariora sunt veniam, res iam uni-
versas profundam, de quibus volumina impleta sunt
non a nostris solum sed etiam a Chrysippo ; de quo
queri solent Stoici, dum studiose omnia conquisierit
contra sensus et perspicuitatem contraque omnem
consuetudinem contraque rationem, ipsum sibi re-
spondentem inferiorem fuisse, itaque ab eo armatum
88 esse Carneadem. Ea sunt eius modi quae a te
dihgentissime tractata sunt. Dormientium et vinu-
lentorum et furiosorum visa imbecilhora esse dicebas
quam vigilantium siccorum sanorum. Quo modo ?
Quia, cum experrectus esset Ennius, non diceret se
vidisse Homerum sed visum esse, Alcmaeo autem
sed mihi ne utiquam cor consentit . , .
« Seei. 29 n. " § 17. <= S 55.
" §§47-53. • See§51 n.
576
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xxvii.
in Nature's fabrication of our senses and mind and
17 the whole structure of a human being. Why should
I not be extremely afraid of rashness in forming
opinion ? Can you even assert this, Lucullus, that
there is some force, united I suppose with providence *
and design, that has moulded or, to use your word,^
fabricated a human being ? What sort of workman-
ship is that ? where was it applied ? Mhen ? why ?
how ? You handle these matters cleverly, and ex-
pound them in a style that is even elegant ; well
then, let us grant that they appear, only provided that
they are not affirmed. But with the natural philo-
sophers we will deal soon (and that with the object
of sa\*ing you, who said just now «^ that I should go
to them, from appearing to have told a falsehood) ;
whereas, to come to matters less obscure, I will now
pour fortli the facts of the universe, about Avhich
volumes have been filled not only by our school but
also by Chrysippus ; of whom the Stoics are in the
habit of complaining that, while he carefuUy sought
out all the facts that told against the senses and their
clarity and against the whole of common experience
and against reason, when answering himself he got
the worst of it, and thus it was he that furnished
8 weapons to Carneades. My points are of the sort naiiucina-
that have been handled very industriously by you.'^ Sw*me
Your assertion was that presentations seen by people theylasu
asleep and tipsy and mad are feebler than those of
persons awake and sober and sane. How ? Because,
you said, when Ennius ^ had woken up he did not say
that he had seen Homer but that he had seemed to
see him. wliile his Alcmaeon says
But my mind agrees in ro wise . . •
577
CICERO
Similia de vinulentis. Quasi quisquam neget et qui
experrectus sit eum somniasse se^ et cuius furor con-
sederit putare non fuisse ea vera quae essent sibi
visa in furore ! Sed non id agitur ; tum cum vide-
bantur quo modo viderentur, id quaeritur. Nisi vero
Eimium non putamus ita totimi illud audivisse
o pietas animi . . .,
si modo id somniavit, ut si vigilans audiret ; exper-
rectus enim potuit illa visa putare, ut erant,^ somnia,
dormienti vero aeque ac vigilanti probabantur. Quid ?
Iliona somno illo
mater, te appello . • •
nonne ita credidit^ fllium locutum ut experrecta
etiam crederet ? Unde enim illa
age adsta, mane, audi ; iteradum eadem ista mihi — ?
num videtur minorem habere visis quam vigilantes
fidem ?
89 XXVIII. " Quidloquardeinsanis ? Qualistandem
fuit adfinis tuus, Catule, Tuditanus ? quisquam
sanissimus tam certa putat quae videt quam is
putabat quae videbantur ? Quid ille qui :
video, video te. vive, Ulixes, dum licet?
nonne etiam bis exclamavit se videre cum omnino
^ somniasse se Miiller : somnia reri Reid : somniare codd.
2 erant Mdv. : erant et codd.
3 IlaJm : credit codcJ.
" Presumably part of the dream about Homer, § 51 n.
" Quoted from the Iliona (see p. 662) of Pacuvius (sce
p. 393).
«^ Apparently this comes from an Ajax Furens, but no
Latin tragedy on this subject is recorded.
578
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xxvii. — xxviii.
There are similar passages about men tipsy. As if
anybody would deny that a man that has woken up
thinks that he has been dreaming, or that one whose
madness has subsided thinks that the things that he
saw during his madness were not true ! But that is
not the point at issue ; what we are asking is what
these things looked hke at the time when they were
seen. Unless indeed we think that, if Ennius merely
dreamt that passage
O piety of spirit ..."
he did not hear the whole of it in the same way as
if he had been hstening to it when awake ; for when
he had woken up he was able to think those appear-
ances dreams, as they were, but he accepted them
as real while he was asleep just as much as he woukl
have done if awake. Again, in that dream of IHona,
Mother, on thee I call . . .,''
did she not so firmly believe that her son had spoken,
that she beheved it even after waking up ? For what
is the cause of her saying
Come, stand by me, stay and hear me ; say those words
to me again — ?
does she seem to have less faith in her visual presenta-
tions than people have when they are awake ?
XXVm. " What shall I say about those who are
out of their mind ? What pray are we to think of
your relative Tuditanus, Catulus ? does anybody
perfectly sane think that the objects that he sees are
as real as Tuditanus thought that his visions were ?
What was the condition of the character who says
I see, I see thee. Live, Ulysses, whiist thou mayest — ?•
did he not actually shout out twice over that he saw,
579
CICERO
non videret ? Quid ? apud Euripidem Hercules cum
ut Eurysthei filios ita suos configebat sagittis, cum
uxorem interemebat, cum conabatur etiam patrem,
non perinde movebatur falsis ut veris moveretur ?
Quid ? ipse Alcmaeo tuus, qui negat ' cor sibi cum
oculis consentire,' nonne ibidem incitato furore
unde haec flamma oritur ?
et illa deinceps
incedunt, incedunt,^ adsunt, me expetunt.
Quid cum virginis fidem implorat —
fer mi auxilium, pestem abige a me, flammiferam hano
vim quae me excruciat !
caeruleo incinctae angui^ incedunt, circumstant cum ar-
dentibus taedis — ?
num dubitas quin sibi haec videre videatur ? Item-
que cetera :
intendit crinitus Apollo
arcum auratum laeva^ innixus,
Diana facem iacit a luna^ —
90 qui magis haec crederet si essent quam credebat
quia videbantur ? apparebat* enim iam * cor cum
oculis consentire.' Omnia autem haec proferuntur ut
illud efficiatur quo certius nihil potest esse, inter visa
^ sic edd. : incede incede codd.
2 angui Columna : igni codd,
s apud Reid : luna .
* ed. : apparet codd.
" See § 52.
^ In bending a bow the left arm being more forward
seenis to do more work than the right. — The ms. text makes
Apollo lean on the moon and Diana fling her torch from hcr
left hand !
580
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xxviii.
althoiigh he was not seeing at all ? Or Hercules in
Euripides, when he was transfixine; his own sons with
liis arrowsas if they were those of Eurystheus,when he
was making away with his wife, when he was attempt-
ing to make away with his father too, — was he not
being affected by things false in the same manner as
if the things by which he was affected had been true ?
Again, Alcmaeon himself whom you quote,** who
says that ' his mind agrees not with his eyes,' —
does he not in the same passage spur on his frenzy
and cry
Whence does this flame arise ?
and then the words
They come, they come ! Now, now they are upon me !
'Tis me they seek !
What when he appeals to the maiden's loyalty for
aid —
Help me, drive the venom off, the flaming violence that
torments me !
Girt with steely snake they come, they ring me round with
burning torches ?
surely you do not doubt that he seems to himself to
see these things ? And similarly the rest :
Apollo of the flowing locks
Against me bends his gilded bow
^^"ith all the force of his left arm * ;
Dian her torch flings from the moon —
90 liow would he have believed these things more if they
had really been true than he actually did beUeve
them because they seemed to be ? for as it was it
seemed that * mind with eyes agreeth.' But all these
things are brought forward in order to prove what
is the most certain fact possible, that in respect of
581
CICERO
vera et falsa ad animi adsensum nihil interesse. Vos
autem nihil agitis cum illa falsa vel furiosorum vel
somniantium recordatione ipsorum refelHtis ; non
enim id quaeritur, qualis recordatio fieri soleat
eorum qui experrecti sint aut eorum qui furere
destiterint, sed quahs visio fuerit aut furentium aut
somniantium tum cum movebantur. Sed abeo a
sensibus.
91 ' ' Quid est quod ratione percipi possit ? Dialecticam
inventam esse dicitis veri et falsi quasi disceptatricem
et iudicem. Cuius veri et falsi, et in qua re ? In
geometriane quid sit verum aut falsum dialecticus
iudicabit an in Utteris an in musicis ? At ea non novit.
In philosophia igitur ? Sol quantus sit quid ad illum ?
quod sit summum bonum quid habet ut queat
iudicare ? Quid igitur iudicabit ? quae coniunctio,
quae diiunctio vera sit, quid ambigue dictum sit,
quid sequatur quamque rem, quid repugnet ? Si
haec et horum simiUa iudicat, de se ipsa iudicat ;
plus autem polhcebatur, nam haec quidem iudicare
ad ceteras res quae sunt in philosophia multae atque
92 magnae non est satis. Sed quoniam tantum in ea
arte ponitis, videte ne contra vos tota nata sit, quae
primo progressu festive tradit elementa loquendi
et ambiguorum intellegentiam concludendique ratio-
" See §§ 26, 27.
* Twv dXrjdoJv Kai xpevbdv \6yujv oiayvojaTLKr) Sext. P.H. ii. 229.
' t.«., dialectic, or rather Xo^c^ij, which included both
SiaXfKTiKTj, or logic in the modern sense, and prjTopiKri, eUmenla
loqvendi below.
582
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xxviii.
the mind's assent there is no difFerence between true
presentations and false ones. But your school acliieve
nothing when you refute those false presentations
by appeahng to the recollection of madmen or
dreamers ; for the questlon is not what sort of recol-
lection is usually experienced by those who have
woken up or have ceased to be mad, but what was
the nature of the visual perception of men mad or
dreaming at the moment when their experience was
taking place, But I am getting away from the senses.
91 " What is it that the reason is capable of per- (5) Diaiectic
cei\-ing ? Your school says that dialectic was in- ^?^ "*^*
vented " to serve as a ' distinguisher ' ^ or judge certainty.
between truth and falsehood. What truth and false-
hood, and on what subject .'' Will the dialectician
judge w^hat is true or false in geometry, or in Utera-
ture, or in music ? But those are not the subjects
with which he is acquainted. Inphilosophy therefore?
What has the question of the size of the sun to do
with him ? what means has he to enable him to
judge what is the supreme good ? What then will he
judge ? what form of hypothetical judgement or of
inference from alternative hypotheses is vahd, what
proposition is ambiguous, what conclusion follows from
any given premiss and what is inconsistent with it ? If
the reason judges these and similar matters, it judges
about itself ; but the promise that it held out went
further,as to judge merely these matters is not enough
for all the other numerous and important problems
92 contained in philosophy. But since your school sets Thesoritu
so much store by that science,*' see that it is not !^^^%^y '-^,
.11 . i . 1 1 r. irrefutable,
essentially entireiy agamst you, when at the first
stage it gaily imparts the elements of discourse, the
solution of ambiguous propositions and the theory of
583
CICEIIO
nem; tum paucis additis venit ad soritas, lubricum
sane et periculosum locum, quod tu modo dicebas
esse vitiosum interrogandi genus. XXIX. Quid
ergo ? istius \-itii num nostra culpa est ? Rerum
natura nullam nobis dedit cognitionem finium ut
ulla in re statuere possimus quatenus ; nec hoc in
acervo tritici solum unde nomen est, sed nulla omnino
in re — minutatim interrogati, dives pauper, clarus
obscurus sit, multa pauca, magna parva, longa
brevia, lata angusta, quanto aut addito aut dempto
93 certum respondeamus non^ habemus. At vitiosi
sunt soritae. Frangite igitur eos, si potestis, ne
molesti sint ; erunt enim, nisi cavetis. ' Cautum est,'
inquit ; ' placet enim Chr^-sippo, cum gradatim
interrogetur (verbi causa) tria pauca sint anne multa,
aUquanto prius quam ad multa perveniat quiescere,
id est quod ab iis dicitur rjcrvxfi-C^Lv.' * Per me vel
stertas hcet,' inquit Carneades, * non modo quie-
scas ; sed quid proficit ? sequitur enim qui te
ex somno excitet et eodem modo interroget :
'* Quo in numero conticuisti, si ad eum numerum
unum addidero, multane erunt ? " — progrediere
rursus quoad videbitur.' Quid plura ? hoc enim
fateris, neque ultimum te paucorum neque primum
multorum respondere posse ; cuius generis error ita
manat ut non videam quo non possit accedere.
94 * Nihil me laedit,' inquit, * ego enim ut agitator
^ [non] Halm.
" See § 49. The ar^runient is that the mere existence of
the Sorites shows that there is no such thing as logica)
certainty or absolute knowledge.
ACADEMICA, II. (I.ucullus), xxviii. — xxix.
the syllogism, but then by a process of small additions
comes to the sDrites,"- certainly a sHppcry and danger-
ous position, and a class of syllorrism that you lately
dcclared to be erroneous. XXIX. What then ? is
that an error for which we are to blame ? No faculty
of knowing absoUite hmits has been bestowed upon
us by tlie nature of things to enable us to fix exactly
how far to go in any matter ; and this is so not only
in the case of a heap of wheat from which the name
is derived, but in no matter whatsoever — if we are
asked by gradual stages, is such and such a person a
rich man or a poor man, famous or undistinguished,
are yonder objects many or few, great or small, long
or short, broad or narrow, we do not know at what
point in the addition or subtraction to give a definite
93 answer. But you say that the sorites is erroneous.
Smash the sorites then, if you can, so that it may not
get you into trouble, for it will if you don't take pre-
cautions. * Precautions have been taken,' says he,
* for the pohcy of Chrysippus is, when questioned step
by step whether (for example) 3 is few or many, a
httle before he gets to " many," to come to rest, or,
as they term it, hesychazein.' ' So far as I am con-
cerned,' says Carneades, ' you may not only rest but
even snore ; but what's the good of that ? for next
comes somebody bent on rousing you from slumber
and carrying on the cross-examination : " If I add 1
to the number at which you became silent, will that
make many ? " — you will go forward again as far as
you think fit.' Why say more ? for you admit my
point, that you cannot specify in your answers either
tlie place where ' a few ' stops or that where ' many '
begins ; and this class of error spreads so widely that
94 I don't see where it may not get to. ' It doesn't
585
CICERO
callidus prius quam ad finem veniam equos sustinebo,
eoque magis si locus is quo ferentur equi praeceps
erit : sic me,' inquit, ' ante sustineo, nec diutius
captiose interroganti respondeo.' Si habes quod
liqueat neque respondes, superbe ; si non habes, ne
tu quidem percipis. Si quia obscura, concedo, sed
negas te usque ad obscura progredi. Inlustribus
igitur rebus insistis. Si id tantum modo ut taceas,
nihil adsequeris, quid enim ad illum qui te captare
vult utrum tacentem inretiat te an loquentem ? sin
autem usque ad novem verbi gratia sine dubitatione
respondes pauca esse, in decumo insistis, etiam a
certis et inlustrioribus cohibes adsensum ; hoc idem
me in obscuris facere non sinis. Nihil igitur te
contra soritas ars ista adiuvat quae nec augendi nec
minuendi^ quid aut primum sit aut postremum docet.
95 Quid quod eadem illa ars quasi Penelope telam
retexens tolUt ad extremum superiora ? utrum ea
vestra an nostra culpa est ? Nempe fundamentum
dialecticae est quidquid enuntietur (id autem appel-
lant tt^tw/Att, quod est quasi effatum) aut verum esse
aut falsum ; quid igitur ? haec vera an falsa sunt :
* Si te mentiri dicis idque verum dicis, mentiris ^ ' ?
Haec scilicet inexpHcabilia esse dicitis, quod est
* nec augentis nec minucntis Halm.
* mentiris Klotz {cf. § 90) : mentiris verum dicis codd. t
mentiris an verum dicis Schutz.
586
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xxix.
touch me at all,' says he, ' for Hke a clever charioteer,
before I get to the end, I shall pull up my horses,
and all the more so if the place they are coming to
is precipitous : I puU up in time as he does,' says he,
* and when captious questions are put I don't reply
any more.' If you have a solution of the problem
and won't reply, that is an arrogant way of acting,
but if you haven't, you too don't perceive the matter ;
if because of its obscurity, I give in, but you say that
you don't go forward till you get to a point that is
obscure. If so, you come to a stop at things that are
clear. If you do so merely in order to be silent, you
don't score anything, for what does it matter to
the adversary who wants to trap you whether you are
silent or speaking when he catches you in his net ?
but if on the contrary you keep on answering ' few *
as far as 9, let us say, ^^ithout hesitating, but stop at
10, you are withholding assent even from propositions
that are certain, nay, clear as dayhght ; but you
don't allow me to do exactly the same in the case of
things that are obscure. Consequently that science
of yours gives you no assistance against a sorites, as
it does not teach you either the first point or the last
95 in the process of increasing or diminishing. What of and so aiso
the fact that this same science destroys at the end '^ ^ ^"'**'
the steps that came before, hke Penelope unweaving
her web ? is your school to blame for that or is ours ?
Clearly it is a fundamental principle of dialectic that
every statement (termed by them axioma, that is,
a * proposition ') is either true or false ; what then ?
is this a true proposition or a false one — ' If you say
that you are lying and say it truly, you he ' ? Your
school of course says that these problems are ' in-
587
CICERO
odiosius quam illa quae nos non comprehensa et non
percepta dicimus.
XXX. " Sed hoc omitto, illud quaero : si ista
exphcari non possunt nec eorum ullum iudicium
invenitur ut respondere possitis verane an falsa sint,
ubi est illa definitio, effatum esse id quod aut verum
aut falsum sit ? Rebus sumptis adiungam ex iis
sequendas esse alias, aUas improbandas,^ quae sint in
genere contrario. Quo modo igitur hoc conchisum
esse iudicas : ' Si dicis nunc lucere et verum dicis,
lucet ; dicis autem nunc lucere et verum dicis^ ;
lucet igitur ' ? Probatis certe genus et rectissime
conclusum dicitis, itaque in docendo eum primum
concludendi modum traditis. Aut quidquid igitur
eodem modo concluditur probabitis aut ars ista
nulla est. ^^ide ergo hanc conclusionem proba-
turusne sis : * Si dicis te mentiri verumque dicis,
mentiris ; dicis autem te mentiri verumque dicis ;
mentiris igitur ' ; qui potes hanc non probare cum
probaveris eiusdem generis superiorem ? Haec
Chrv^sippea sunt, ne ab ipso quidem dissoluta. Quid
enim faceret huic conclusioni : * Si lucet, lucet ;
lucet autem ; lucet igitur ' ? cederet sciUcet, ipsa
enim ratio conexi, cum concesseris superius, cogit
inferius concedere. Quid ergo haec ab illa con-
^ sequenda esse alia, alia improbanda ? ed,
2 lucet . . . dicis inseruit Manutius.
" 5.TTopa,
* aliaa, alias = ej^ata alia, alia (attracted to the gender of
rebus).
588
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xxix. — xxx.
soluble,' " which is more vexatious than the tliings
termed by us ' not grasped ' and * not perccived.'
XXX. " But I drop this point and ask the following
question : if the problems in question are iiisoluble
and no criterion of them is forthcoming to enable you
to answer whether they are true or false, what be-
comes of the definition of a * proposition ' as ' that
which is either true or false ' ? Taking certain pre-
misses I will draw the conclusion that, of two sets
of propositions, to be classed as contradictory, one
set is to be adopted and the other set to be rejected.^
96 What judgement do you pass on the procedure of
the following syllogism — ' If you say that it is hght
now and speak the truth, it is hght ; but you do say
that it is hght now and speak the truth ; therefore it
is hght ' ? Your school undoubtedly approve this class
of syllogism and say that it is completely vahd, and
accordingly it is the first mode of proof that you give
in your lectures. Either therefore you will approve
of every syllogism in the same mode, or that science
of yours is no good. Consider therefore whether
you will approve the foUowing syllogism : * If you say
that you are lying and speak the truth, you are lying ;
but you do say that you are lying and speak the
truth ; therefore you are lying ' ; how can you not
approve this syllogism when you approved the pre-
vious one of the same class ? These fahacies are the
inventions of Chrysippus, and even he himself could
not solve them ; for what could he make of this
syllogism — ' If it is hght, it is hght ; but it is hght ;
therefore it is hght ' ? Of course he would agree ;
for the very nature of hypothetical inference compels
you to grant the conclusion if you have granted the
premiss. WTiat then Is the diiference between this
589
CICERO
clusione differt : * Si mentiris, mentiris ; mentiris
autem ; mentiris igitur ' ? Hoc negas te posse nec
adprobare nec improbare ; qui igitur magis illud ?
si ars, si ratio, si via, si vis denique conclusionis
97 valet, eadem est in utroque. Sed hoc extremum
eorum est : postulant ut excipiantur haec inexplica-
biUa. Tribunum ahquem censeo videant : a me istam
exceptionem numquam impetrabunt. Etenim cum
ab Epicuro, qui totam dialecticam et contemnit et
inridet, non impetrent ut verum esse concedat quod
ita effabimur, ' Aut vivet cras Hermarchus aut non
vivet,' cum dialectici sic statuant, omne quod ita
disiunctum sit quasi ' aut etiam aut non ' non modo
verum esse sed etiam necessarium, vide quam sit
cautus^ is quem isti tardum^ putant ; ' Si enim,'
inquit, ' alterutrum concessero necessarium esse,
necesse erit cras Hermarchum aut vivere aut non
vivere ; nuUa autem est in natura rerum tahs
necessitas.' Cum hoc igitur dialectici pugnent, id
est Antiochus et Stoici ; totam enim evertit dia-
lecticam, nam si e contrariis disiunctio — contraria
autem ea dico, cum alterum aiat, alterum neget — si
tahs disiunctio falsa potest esse, nuUa vera est ;
98 mecum vero quid habent htium, qui ipsorum disci-
phnam sequor ? Cum ahquid huius modi inciderat,
sic ludere Carneades solebat : ' Si recte conclusi,
^ catus Lamhinus: acutus Reid.
^ bardum ? Reid.
* In civjl buits the praetor did not try the facts but issued
an instruction to an inferior court to cast the defendant if
certain facts were proved, and sometimes also unless certain
other facts were proved : the latter clause was an exceptio.
\\' the praetor refused to grant an exceptio, ti.e defendant
nii«3'ht appeal to a tribune, who couJd procure the grant by
5.)0
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xxx.
syllogism and the former one — ' If you are lying, you
are lying ; but you are lying ; therefore you are
lying ' ? You say that you are unable either to agree
to this or to disprove it ; how then are you more able
to deal "with the other ? if science, reason, method,
in fact if the syllogistic proof is vahd, it is the
same in either case. But the farthest length they go
is to demand that these insoluble problems should be
deemcd an exception. My advice to them is to apply
to some tribune " : they will never get that ' saving
clause ' from me. For as they will not get Epicurus,
who despises and laughs at the whole of dialectic, to
admit the validity of a proposition of the form ' Herm-
archus will either be ahve to-morrow or not ahve,'
whereas dialecticians lay it down that every disjunc-
tive proposition of the form ' either x or not-a- ' is
not only vahd but even necessary, see how on his
guard the man is whom your friends think slow ; for
' If,' he says, ' I admit either of the two to be neces-
sary, it will foUow that Hermarchus must eitlier be
ahve to-m.orrow or not ahve ; but as a matter of fact
in the nature of things no such neccssity exists.'
Therefore let the dialecticians, that is, Antioclius and
the Stoics, do battle with this philosopher, for he over-
throws the whole of dialectic, if a disjunctive propo-
sition consisting of two contrary statements — ' con-
trary ' meaning one of them affirmative, the other
negative — if a disjunctive proposition of this sort can
be false, none is true ; but what quarrel have they with
me, who am a disciple of their own school ? When
any situation of this nature occurred, Carneades used
to play with the matter thus : ' If my conclusion is
threatening if it were not given to annul tlie whole of the
praetor's instruction.
^91
CICERO
teneo^ ; sin vitiose, minam Diogenes mihi reddet *
(ab eo enim Stoico dialecticam didicerat, haec autem
mcrces erat dialecticorum). Sequor igitur eas vias
quas didici ab Antiocho, nec reperio quo modo
iudicem ' Si lucet, lucet ' verum esse (ob eam causam
quod ita didici, omne quod ipsum ex se conexum sit
verum esse), non iudicem ' Si mentiris, mentiris '
eodem modo esse conexum. Aut igitur et^ hoc et
illud aut nisi hoc ne illud quidem iudicabo.
XXXI. " Sed ut omnes istos aculeos et totum
tortuosum genus disputandi relinquamus ostendamus-
que qui simus, iam explicata tota Carneadis sententia
Antiochi ista conruent universa. Nec vero quic-
quam ita dicam ut quisquam id fingi suspicetur : a
Chtomacho sumam, qui usque ad senectutem cum
Carneade fuit, homo et acutus ut Poenus et valde
studiosus ac dihgens. Et quattuor eius hbri sunt de
sustinendis adsensionibus, haec autem quae iam
99 dicam sunt sumpta de primo. Duo placet esse
Carneadi genera visorum, in uno hanc di^-isionem,
aha \-isa esse quae percipi possint, aha quae percipi
non possint, in altero autem alia visa esse probabiha,
aha non probabiha ; itaque quae contra sensus
contraque perspicuitatem dicantur ea pertinere ad
superiorem divisionem, contra posteriorem nihil dici
^ <te> teneo Davies. " et inseruif ed.
° Say i'4.. The professor mentioned was a minor Stoic,
a Babvlonian ; he went with Carneades to Rome on the
famous embassy, § 137. * C/. § 75.
' (pavTaa-iaL KaTaXrjTrTiKai and d/carciXT^TrTot, Tndavai and
i.irldapoi,
592
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xxx.— xxxi.
correct, I keep to it ; if it is faulty, Diogenes will pay
me back a mina^ ' (for Diogenes as a Stoic had taught
him dialectic, and that was the fee of professors of
that subject). I therefore am foUowing the methods
of procedure that I learnt from Antiochus, and I can-
not make out how I am to form the judgement that
the proposition ' If it is Hght, it is hght ' is a true one
(because I was taught that every hypothetical in-
ference is true), but not form the judgement that
* If you are lying, you are lying ' is an inference on
the same hnes. Either therefore I shall make both
the former judgement and the latter one, or, if not
the former, not the latter either.
XXXI. " But to leave all those stinging repartees (6)Thecon-
and the whole of the tortuous class of argument ^ sfj^^jj^j^®
and to dispLiy our real position, as soon as the whole Cameades:
system of Carneades has been unfolded the doctrines sensaUoif
of your Antiochus will come to the ground in complete [^ ®°°^!^^x,
collapse. However, I will not assert anything in such wiSm&n.
a manner that anybody may suspect me of inventing ;
I shall take it from CHtomachus, who was a companion
of Carneades quite until old age, a clever fellow as
being a Carthaginian, and also extremely studious
and industrious. There are four volumes of his that
deal with the ^Wthholding of assent, but what I am
now going to say has been taken from Volume One.
99 Carneades holds that there are two classifications of
presentations, which under one are divided into those
that can be perceived and those that cannot, and
under the other into those that are probable and those
that are not probable «^ ; and that accordingly those
presentations that are styled by the Academy con-
trary to the senses and contrary to perspicuity belong
to the former division, whereas the latter division
593
CICERO
oportere ; quare ita placere, tale visum nullum esse
ut perceptio consequeretur, ut autem probatio,
multa. Etenim contra naturam est^ probabile nihil
esse, et sequitur omnis vitae ea quam tu, Luculle,
commemorabas eversio ; itaque et sensibus probanda
multa sunt, teneatur modo illud, non inesse in iis
quicquam tale quale non etiam falsum nihil ab eo
difFerens esse possit. Sic quidquid acciderit specie
probabile, si nihil se offeret quod sit probabiHtati illi
contrarium, utetur eo sapiens, ac sic omnis ratio
vitae gubernabitur. Etenim is quoque qui a vobis
sapiens inducitur multa sequitur probabilia, non
comprehensa neque percepta neque adsensa sed
similia veri ; quae nisi probet, omnis vita tollatur.
100 Quid enim ? conscendens navem sapiens num com-
prehensum animo habet atque perceptum se ex sen-
tentia navigaturum ? qui potest ? Sed si iam ex hoc
loco proficiscatur Puteolos stadia triginta probo
navigio, bono gubernatore, hac tranquilUtate, pro-
babile ei^ videatur se illuc venturum esse salvum.
Huius modi igitur visis consiha capiet et agendi et
non agendi, facihorque erit ut albam esse nivem
probet quam erat Anaxagoras (qui id non modo ita
esse negabat sed sibi, quia sciret aquam nigram esse
unde illa concreta ^ esset, albam ipsam esse ne videri
* est Miiller: esset codd. ^ ei inseruit Lambinus,
3 Man. : congregata codd.
" S§ 31, 53, 58.
594.
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xxxi.
must not be impugned ; and that consequently his
view is that there is no presentation of such a sort as
to result in perception, but many that result in a
judgement of probability. For it is contrary to nature
for nothing to be probable, and entails that entire
subversion of life of which you, Lucullus, were speak-
ing<^; accordingly even many sense-percepts must
be deemed probable, if only it be held in mind that
no sense-presentation has such a character as a false
presentation could not also have without differing
from It at all. Thus the >\ise man ^^ill make use of
whatever apparently probable presentation he en-
counters, if nothing presents itself that is contrary
to that probability, and his whole plan of hfe will be
charted out in this manner. In fact even the person
whom your school brings on the stage as the \\dse man
follows many things probable. that he has not grasped
nor perceived nor assented to but that possess veri-
simihtude ; and if he were not to approve them, all
100 Ufe would be done away with. Another point : when
a \\"ise man is going on board a ship surely he has not
got the knowledge ah-eady grasped in his mind
and perceived that he will make the voyage as he
intends ? how can he have it ? But if for instance he
were setting out from here to PuteoH, a distance of
four miles, with a rehable crew and a good hehiisman
and in the present calm weather, it would appear
probable that he would get there safe. He will there-
fore be guided by presentations of this sort to adopt
plans of action and of inaction, and will be readier at
proving that snow is white than Anaxagoras M'as (who
not only denied that this was so, but asserted that to
him snow did not even appear white, because he
knew that it was made of water sohdified and that
595
CICERO
101 quidem) ; et quaecumque res eum sic attinget ut
sit visum illud probabile neque ulla re impeditum,
movebitur. Non enim est e saxo sculptus aut e
robore dolatus ; habet corpus, habet animum,
movetur mente, movetur sensibus, ut esse^ ei vera
multa videantur, neque tamen habere insignem illam
et propriam percipiendi notam, eoque sapientem
non adsentiri, quia possit eiusdem modi exsistere
falsum aliquod cuius modi hoc verum. Neque nos
contra sensus ahter dicimus ac Stoici, qui multa falsa
esse dicunt longeque ahter se habere ac sensibus
videantur.
XXXII. " Hoc autem si ita sit, ut unum modo
sensibus falsum videatur, praesto est qui neget rem
uham percipi posse sensibus ! Ita nobis tacentibus
ex uno Epicuri capite, altero vestro perceptio et
comprehensio tolhtur. Quod est caput Epicuri ?
* Si uUum sensus visum falsum est, nihil percipi
potest.' Quod vestrum ? * Sunt falsa sensus visa.*
Quid sequitur ? Ut taceam, conclusio ipsa loquitur
nihil posse percipi. * Non concedo,' inquit, ' Epicuro.'
Certa igitur cum illo, qui a te totus diversus est, noh
mecum, qui hoc quidem certe, falsi esse ahquid in
102 sensibus, tibi adsentior. Quamquam nihil mihi tam
mirum videtur quam ista dici, ab Antiocho quidem
^ esse inseruit ed.
• i.e., Lucullus, wliom Cicero is addressing, c/. §§ 80, 94.
5y6
ACADEMICA, II. (Llcullus), xxxi. — xxxii.
01 water was black) ; and wliatever object comes in con-
tact with him in such a way that the presentation is
probable, and unhindered by anything, he will be set
in motion. For he is not a statue carved out of stone
or he^NTi out of timber ; he has a body and a mind,
a mobile intellect and mobile senses, so that many
things seem to him to be true, although nevertheless
they do not seem to him to possess that distinct and
pecuhar mark leading to perception, and hence the
doctrine that the wise man does not assent, for the
reason that it is possible for a false presentation to
occur that has the same character as a given true one.
Nor does our pronouncement against the senses difFer
from that of the Stoics, who say that many things are
false and widely different from what they appear to
the senses.
XXXII. " If however this be the case, let the Certainty
senses receive but a single false presentation, and he <^ needed toi
stands ready to deny that the senses can perceive conduct.
anything ! Thus a single first principle of Epicurus
combined with another belonging to your school
results in the abohtion of perception and comprehen-
sion, without our utterino' a word. What is the prin-
ciple of Epicurus ? ' If any sense-presentation is
false, nothing can be perceived.' What is yours ?
' There are false sense-presentations.' What follov.s }
Without any word of mine, logical inference of itself
declares that nothing can be perceived. * I do not
admit Epicurus's point,' says he. Well then, figlit it
out with Epicurus — he differs from you entirely ;
don't join issue with me, who at all events agree
with you so far as to hold that there is an element
02 of falsehood in the senses. Although nothing seems
to me 80 surprising as that those dootrines should be
597
CICERO
maxime, cui erant ea quae paulo ante dixi notissima.
Licet enim hoc quivis arbitratu suo reprehendat
quod negemus rem ullam percipi posse, certe levior
reprehensio est ; quod tamen dicimus esse quaedam
probabilia, non ^idetur hoc satis esse vobis. Ne sit ;
illa certe debemus efFugere quae a te vel maxime
agitata sunt : ' Nihil igitur cernis ? nihil audis ?
nihil tibi est perspicuum ? ' Exphcavi paulo ante
CUtomacho auctore quo modo ista Carneades diceret ;
accipe quem ad modum eadem dicantur a CHtomacho
in eo Hbro quem ad C. LuciHum scripsit poetam, cum
scripsisset iisdem de rebus ad L. Censorinum eum
qui consul cum M'. ManiHo fuit. Scripstt igitur his
fere verbis — sunt enim mihi nota, propterea quod
earum ipsarum rerum de quibus agimus prima
institutio et quasi discipHna iHo Hbro continetur — sed
103 scriptum est ita : Academicis placere esse rerum
eius modi dissimiHtudines ut aHae probabiles videan-
tur, aHae contra ; id autem non esse satis cur alia
posse percipi dicas, aHa non posse, propterea quod
multa falsa probabiHa sint, nihil autem falsi percep-
tum et cognitum possit esse. Itaque ait vehementer
errare eos qui dicant ab Academia sensus eripi, a
quibus numquam dictum sit aut colorem aut saporem
aut sonum nuUum esse, iHud sit disputatum, non
<» 149 B.c.
^ Quasi marks disciplina as an explanation of institutio
used to translate some Greek term, perhaps avffTijfxa.
598
ACADEMICA, II. (Lucullus), xxxii.
asserted, especially indeed by Antiochus, who was
perfectly well acquainted with the arguments that I
stated a httle before. For even though anybody at
his own discretion may criticize our statement that
nothing can be perceived, that is a less serious criti-
cism ; but it is our assertion that there are some things
that are probable that seems to your school to be
inadequate. It may be ; anyhow it is certainly up to
us to get round the difficulties that you raised with
the greatest insistency : * Do you then see nothing ?
do you hear nothing ? is nothing clear to you ? ' I
quoted from Chtomachus a httle earher an explana-
tion of the way in which Carneades treated the diffi-
culties you refer to ; let me give you the way in
which the same points are dealt witli by Chtomachus
in the volume that he m-ote to the poet Gaius
Lucihus, although he had written on the same sub-
jects to the Lucius Censorinus who was Manius
Manihus's colleague in the consulship.° He wrote
then in almost these words — for I am famihar with
them, because the primary ' system ' or doctrine *
which we are deahng with is contained in tliat book —
103 but it runs as foUows : * The Academic school holds
that there are dissimilarities between things of such
a nature that some of them seem probable and others
the contrary ; but this is not an adequate ground for
saying that some things can be perceived and others
cannot, because many false objects are probable but
nothing false can be perceived and known.' And
accordingly he asserts that those who say that the
Academy robs us of our senses are violently mistaken,
as that school never said that colour, taste or sound
was non-existent, but their contention was that these
presentatiuns do not contain a mark of truth and
5[)9
CICERO
inesse in iis propriam quae nusquam alibi esset veri
104 et certi notam. Quae cum exposuisset, adiungit
dupliciter dici adsensus sustinere sapientem, uno
modo cum hoc intellegatur, omnino eum rei nuUi
adsentiri, altero cum se a respondendo ut aut ad-
probet quid^ aut improbet sustineat, ut neque neget
aliquid neque aiat ; id cum ita sit, alterum placere,
ut numquam adsentiatur, alterum tenere, ut sequens
probabilitatem ubicumque haec aut occurrat aut
deficiat aut * etiam ' aut ' non ' respondere possit.
Etenim cum^ placeat eum qui de omnibus rebus
contineat se ab adsentiendo moveri tamen et agere
ahquid, relinqui eius modi visa quibus ad actionem
excitemur, item ea quae interrogati in utramque
partem respondere possimus, sequentes tantum modo
quod ita visum